


A Different Kind Of Magic

by strauberry23



Series: Hogwarts AU [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Hogwarts AU, chloe is the same as she's always been, cute eleven year olds, gryffindor nino, hufflepuff adrien, making new friends is the best, ravenclaw alya, slytherin marinette, they make adorable witches and wizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-05-30 20:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6438610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strauberry23/pseuds/strauberry23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette is excited to start her first year of Hogwarts. She learns new spells, how to fly, and goes to her first Hogwarts quidditch game. Unfortunately, with growing older there comes more potential for drama. And with Chloe around, there will always be drama.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Magical Pastries

**Author's Note:**

> this au is the best idk why there's not more of it  
> there's more info about this on my tumblr here: http://agreste-dupain-cheng.tumblr.com/hogwarts_au , it's where I answer questions, give updates, and explain my head canons for this AU :)

Marinette let out an _oof_ as her father wrapped her up in a huge hug, lifting her up off the ground. “Oh Marinette, I’m going to miss you so much!”

The girl smiled sadly and did her best to wrap her short arms around her father’s large stature. “I’m gonna miss you too, Papa.”

Tom gave her one last squeeze before setting her down, releasing her and setting a large hand on either side of her face. “Be careful, okay?”

Marinette grabbed her father’s hands and took them off her face, holding them in hers. “I’ll be okay, Papa. It’s Hogwarts, the safest place on Earth! What could happen?”

“I don’t know about that,” her mother said, placing a hand on her husband’s arm. “But I’m sure we have nothing to worry about, right Tom?”

“Yeah I suppose… I’m just gonna miss my muffin so much!” With that he wrapped Marinette up in another hug.

“Okay dear, you’re gonna make her miss the train,” Sabine reminded after a few moments, gesturing to the Hogwarts Express engine billowing smoke in front of them.

“Yes, you’re right as always,” Tom said with a sniff, reluctantly stepping back from his daughter.

Sabine took that opportunity to hug Marinette, wrapping her up in a just-as-tight hug as Tom had. “We love you, sweetie. Remember to study hard, write often, and have fun, okay?”

“Okay Mom,” Marinette said, squeezing her mom hard. “I love you too.”

“I love you both,” Tom said as he hugged both of them.

The family of three stood there on Platform 9 3/4, enjoying the last moment they would have together until the winter holidays.

Marinette squeezed her parents one more time before letting go. “I’m gonna miss you guys so much,” she said, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek (Tom had to lean down in order for her to do so).

“We’ll miss you too, sweetie,” Sabine said, Tom nodding behind her.

The first year Hogwarts student took a deep breath then reached down to get her trunk, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

“I love you!” she said, starting to walk towards the train.

“I love you too!” her parents said in unison, her father’s voice a bit more choked up.

Marinette weaved around a few families still saying goodbye then hopped up into the first car, struggling with her trunk a bit. She opened the door to the first empty compartment she could find, quickly setting her stuff down and trying not to trip in her excitement. The 11-year-old  jumped onto the cushioned seat next to the window, a wide smile on her face as she looked out to the platform. She could just barely see her parents walking back toward the wall that would lead them back into the Muggleworld, her mother doing her best to support her blubbering father.

She will definitely miss her parents, that was a given. This would be the first time she would be apart from them for so long, and that made her very sad. She would definitely miss her father’s baking and her mom’s encouraging words, but at the same time she was on her way to Hogwarts, the best magic school in the world. But she was also really excited to start learning magic, and how to fly! Especially how to fly. Marinette giggled to herself at the thought of flying around on a broomstick, her usual clumsiness gone, the feeling of the wind in her hair as she zipped around…

~~~

“Okay Nino, are you sure you have everything? All your books, clothes, soap, did you bring soap? Were we supposed to provide you with soap? Oh goodness I didn’t buy you any soap-”

“Mom, chill!” Nino said, unwrapping himself from his mother’s tight hug. “I’m sure they’ll have soap there.”

“But what if they don’t!” Mrs. Lahiffe exclaimed, wrapping herself around her son once again. “I don’t want my baby to smell.” She suddenly stiffened, pulling back to grip Nino by the shoulders. “They will feed you right? Because if they don’t they will have to deal with me, and that will not be pleasant for anybody.”

“It’s a magical school, Mom,” he said, reaching up to fix his hat with a frown. “Of course they’ll feed me.”

“Well you tell me if they don’t and I’ll be over there so fast they wouldn’t know what hit them.”

“Ok Mom,” Nino said with a roll of his eyes. “I really need to go now.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Mrs. Lahiffe said, reaching forward and fixing her son’s jacket. “Don’t want my baby to be late on his first day of magic school.”

Nino smiled and hugged his mom one more time. “I’ll miss you, Mom.”

Mrs. Lahiffe readily returned his embrace, her vision becoming blurry from unshed tears. “I’ll miss you too, Nino. Write often.”

Nino let out a short laugh and pulled away. “You bought me like a hundred pens, Mom, I’ll make sure to use them.”

“Be sure that you do,” Mrs. Lahiffe said, sniffing as she patted him on his cheeks. “Now go, have fun.”

“Thanks Mom,” he said, picking up his stuff from the ground. “I love you!” he said as started to walk toward the train.

“I love you too!” Mrs. Lahiffe said, waving after her son.

Nino grinned and waved back, walking backwards until he couldn’t see her anymore. He was about to turn around when he tripped over something, causing him and his stuff to sprawl across the ground, his head making a sharp _thud_ on the platform.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?”

Nino rubbed his head, already feeling a headache coming on. He opened his eyes to see

“Look at what he did!” she practically screamed at the people standing with her. “He ruined my trunk!”

“Your trunk is fine, Miss Bourgeois,” one of them said with a carefully blank expression. “I think the boy suffered more damage.”

“How dare you speak to me that way!” the girl shrieked. “When my father hears about this-”

“Chloé!” they heard a voice say, turning to look as a boy with blond hair quickly walked up to the small group of people.

“Adrikins!” Chloé said, attacking the boy with a large hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Hello Chlo, how are you?” he said with a smile.

“Well I was just fine until this clumsy idiot tripped over my trunk and damaged it!” she said, angrily gesturing over to where Nino was still laying on the ground.

Adrien’s eyes widened and he immediately rushed over to the other boy, holding out a hand to help him up.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked in concern.

Nino winced and held his head once he got his feet back under him. “Not really to be honest, but I’ll be alright.”

“How did you trip?” Adrien questioned as he readjusted his bag on his shoulder, which had fallen off in his rush to help Nino up.

Said boy glared in Chloé’s direction. “Have you seen her trunk? It’s ginormous! Like seriously, who needs that many clothes?”

Adrien laughed a little, not wanting to make fun of his only friend but having to agree.

“Are you all set, Adrien?” the woman that came with the other boy asked.

The other boy, which Nino now knew was Adrien, turned to look at her with a small smile. “Yeah I’m all set Nathalie, thanks for bringing me.”

“You know your father would have been here-”

“If he didn’t have important stuff to do in Paris, yeah I know,” Adrien finished morosely.

“Well,” Nathalie said, uncomfortably stiff, “have a good term, Adrien. I will see you for the holidays.”

“Bye Nathalie,” Adrien said with a wave, waiting until the woman was gone before turning back to Nino. “Sorry about that. “I’m Adrien, by the way,” he said, sticking out his hand.

Nino laughed and briefly shook his hand. “Nino. Nice to meet you, man.”

Adrien gave a wide smile. “Likewise.”

“Hey dude, wanna sit with me on the train?” Nino asked, leaning down to pick his backpack off the floor.

Adrien nodded excitedly. “Yes, that would be-”

“Adrikins!” Chloé interrupted, latching onto Adrien’s arm. “Come sit with me and Sabrina.” With that she started dragging him in the direction of the train.

“Wait, Chloé,” he said, digging his heels into the ground to stop her in her tracks. “I already said I was going to sit with Nino.”

Chloé took one look at Nino and turned up her nose, letting Adrien go and crossing her arms with a huff. “Well _I’m_ not sitting with him. I’m going to sit at the front of the train. Come on, Sabrina.” She stomped off, a girl with short red hair that Nino hadn’t noticed before scurrying after her.

“Are you actually friends with her?” Nino asked Adrien in disbelief.

Adrien shrugged, fiddling with the strap of his bag. “Our family has always been friends, so yeah. She’s kind of my only friend, actually.”

“Dude,” Nino said, shaking his head. “I think it’s time for you to make some new friends. I’ll be the first.” He slung an arm around the unsuspecting boy’s shoulders.

Adrien turned to look at him with a smile that almost split his face in half. “Really?”

Nino laughed, giving him a squeeze before letting him go, picking up his trunk. “Yeah really! Now let’s get on the train before it leaves without us.”

Adrien picked up his trunk and hurried after his new friend, happier than he had been in years.

~~~

“What are _you_ so happy about?”

Marinette was pulled from her musings by a disgusted high-pitched voice coming from behind her. She whipped around, her pigtails swinging to hit her cheek from the abrupt movement.

Standing in the open doorway to the apartment stood a girl who looked to be the same age as her, with blond hair pulled back into a high ponytail and blue eyeshadow covering her eyelids.

The girl scoffed when Marinette didn’t answer, placing a hand on her hip as she appraised the black-haired girl in front of her. “What, do you not understand English or something?”

Marinette simply stared for a moment, very confused as to what was going on, but replied, “No, I speak English.”

“Good,” the blond girl sniffed, “then you should have no problem understanding me when I tell you to move to another compartment.”

Marinette blanched in shock. “Why would I do that?”

“Because,” the girl said, more angry now, “I deserve the cabin in the front and you are in _my_ seat.”

Marinette shook her head in disbelief. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

The girl gasped, dramatically raising a hand to cover her heart. “I am Chloé Bourgeois, the Minister of Magic’s daughter! _Obviously_ it’s my right to sit at the front of the train.”

“What’s wrong with any of the other compartments in the front?” Marinette questioned.

“Nothing, I just want this one.”

Marinette stood up, an angry scowl on her face. “I don’t see why I should move for someone like _you.”_

“Because I’m amazing and beautiful, of course,” Chloé boasted while flipping her hair.

“No, because you’re a spoiled brat!” Marinette said while stomping her foot on the ground.

Chloé gasped again, pointed a finger toward Marinette-

“ _There_ you are!” came a voice from behind Chloé, effectively cutting her off.

Both girls looked toward the voice to see another young girl with brown and red hair move her way into the compartment.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” the new girl exclaimed, coming up to Marinette and giving her a hug. “ _Just play along,”_ she whispered into Marinette’s ear.

The girl pulled away and started gathering up Marinette’s things. “C’mon, I’ve got a compartment for us next door, I’ve been waiting forever!”

Marinette, utterly confused, absentmindedly grabbed her backpack and followed the girl past Chloé, out of the compartment and into the one next door.

The girl set down Marinette’s stuff on the bench that wasn’t already filled with things before turning back around to smile at her, pushing her glasses back up her nose. “Sorry about that but I had to get you out of there, Chloé is the _worst!”_ she complained as she sat on the other bench.

Marinette slid her backpack off her shoulder and sat down as well. “No, it’s okay,” she said, “but I think I was handling it just fine.”

Alya snorted. “Yeah, for now. Chloé is so mean that she would do anything to get back at you for refusing to do as she said. Trust me, you do _not_ want to get into that.”

Marinette slowly nodded. “Okay, well, then thanks, I guess.”

Alya smiled wide. “Of course!”

“Oh!” Marinette exclaimed after a moment of silence, digging through her backpack before finally producing a ziplock bag full of pastries and sweets. She opened it up and the wonderful smell spread throughout the cabin. “Here, take one!” she said as she held the bag out to the other girl. “Thank you for letting me sit with you.”

“No, you don’t have to do that!” Alya said as she shook her head. “Isn’t that you’re lunch?”

Marinette shrugged. “A part of it, yeah. But you have to try these, they come from my parents’ bakery, and they’re _so good._ ”

“Really?” Alya questioned, looking down into the bag with renewed interest. “Well, if you insist.”

Alya reached into the bag and pulled out one of the pastries on top, taking a bite. Her eyes went wide and she licked her lips, humming in appreciation. “These are really good!” she said around the pastry in her mouth.

Marinette giggled. “I’m glad you like them!” She took a pastry out of the bag for herself and started to eat as well.  

“So you’re parents are bakers? Are you a muggleborn, then?” Alya asked as she dug into her snack.

Marinette shook her head, taking great care to swallow the food in her mouth before talking. “No, my parents both have magic. My dad was a muggleborn and he wanted to go back into the muggle world after he left Hogwarts, so that’s what he did. He always wanted to be a baker. Then my mom and her family moved here from China and she met my dad when she went to his bakery one day and they really hit it off, especially after my dad found out that my mom was a witch. Then they got married, ran the bakery together, and had me!” she finished with a giggle.

“Woah, that’s so cool!”Alya said as she reached for another pastry. “You said you grew up in the muggle world? So did your parents use any magic?” Alya said in wonder, taking another bite of her pastry.

“Yeah there was magic, but we had to take extra care to not let the muggles see, so it was mostly in the back room where the ovens are,” Marinette explained. “Why do you think these pastries taste so good?”

The two girls laughed, the happy sound filling the compartment.

“So what about you?” Marinette asked as the laughter died down. “What’s your family like?”

“Both of my parents are wizards, so me and my siblings grew up around magic. There’s not really that much to tell - they met at Hogwarts, fell in love, blah blah blah,” Alya said with a wave of her hand. “My mom is a magical chef at one of those big, fancy, wizarding hotels which is _awesome.”_

“Sounds like it!” Marinette said, impressed. “Hey, both of our parents make food! That’s so cool!”

“Yeah!” said Alya excitedly, bouncing in her seat a little. She held out her pastry toward Marinette. “Friends?”

The black haired girl giggled, tapping Alya’s pastry with her own with a smile like they were cheering glasses. “Friends.”

The two girls talked the rest of the way to the castle, both glad to have found someone to call a friend so soon.


	2. The Sorting Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette, Alya, and the rest of the first years are taken to the castle by the nice Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts and her black cat, afterward being handed off and sorted into their houses.

“So what house do you think you’ll be in?” Marinette asked her new friend as she stepped off the train.

Alya jumped off the last step after her, her new black robes swishing around her legs. “My mom was in Ravenclaw and my dad was in Gryffindor, so I guess either of those would be good. Gryffindor would be so much fun, because then I could be a lion! RAWR!” she playfully growled, causing Marinette to giggle. “How ‘bout you?”

Marinette shrugged, heading toward where a small woman stood calling for the first years, lantern in hand. “I’m not sure, my dad was in Hufflepuff and he loved it so that could be fun. Ravenclaw could be good, too. But I don’t think Gryffindor is a good fit for me.”

“What are you talking about?” Alya asked incredulously. “You stood up to Chloé, I don’t think you can get much braver than that.”

“I guess,” Marinette conceeded, both of them coming to a stop in the middle of a crowd of first-years standing in front of the woman. “But she was being a jerk and it wasn’t fair of her to try and kick me out,” she pouted, crossing her arms.

“Maybe you’ll be in Hufflepuff then,” Alya thought out loud. “They value fairness.”

Marinette laughed a little in agreement. “Yeah, maybe.”

“First years!” the woman with the lantern said over the children’s voices. “Quiet down please!”

All talking came to an end, the only sound being the horseless carriages carrying the upperclassmen moving across the ground toward the castle.

“I am here to welcome you all to Hogwarts,” the woman said with a warm smile, her short red hair catching the light from the lantern making it look like it was on fire. “My name is Tikki, and I am the Keeper of Keys and Grounds. If you all would follow me, please.”

She turned around and headed into the trees, gesturing for them to come with her. They did, following her and her black cat down the steep, slippery slope. Nobody talked much, all concentrating on trying not to fall. 

“Almost there!” Tikki called out, much to the relief of the children. They rounded a corner and every one of them gasped.

Before them sat a dark lake, the water glinting with the light coming from the castle perched on the high mountain on the other side. Tikki allowed them to gape for a moment with a small smile, her cat coming to twist around her legs with a purr. 

“Alright everyone, into the boats! Only four to a boat please, we don’t want you to sink,” she said with a laugh. 

The children were enraptured by the warm atmosphere this small woman created, laughing along with her. They scrambled into the boats, Tikki helping wherever she could. 

“Adrikins!” Marinette heard a familiar voice say. She turned around from her place in a boat to see Chloé waving at a blond boy who had been about to climb into a different boat.

“I saved you a seat with me!” Chloé continued, patting the seat next to her. 

Marinette watched as the boy walked over, despite the protests of another boy who was in the boat the blond was about to get in. He sat with Chloé, the girl immediately wrapping herself around his arm. The boy scratched the back of his head, not looking very comfortable. 

Once they were all settled, Tikki climbed into her own boat, her cat slipping in before perching on the seat next to her, his tail curling around himself. 

_“Forward!”_

The boats glided across the water toward the castle on their own, much to the amazement of some of the students. They all were silent, watching as the castle grew bigger and bigger before their eyes. 

“Heads down!” Tikki called out, prompting all of them to duck their heads. They glided through a curtain of ivy and into a short tunnel, eventually coming to a small dock in front of a pair of big, heavy-looking doors. They all clambered out, walking along the wood of the dock and onto the pebbles that made up the shore and up to the door. 

Tikki, who had been making sure everyone got out alright, came up behind all of them calling out, “Whose toad is this?” as she walked toward the front, holding said toad above her head so they all could see. 

There came a sigh from the back of the group. “That’s mine.”

A short girl with short, pinkish hair walked up to Tikki, a scowl on her face. She collected her toad and stomped back to her place, mumbling _“why did my parents even get me this stupid toad”_ under her breath.

Tikki turned around and opened the huge doors with ease to reveal a kind looking woman dressed in robes trimmed with blue and bronze. 

“Welcome everyone!” she said with a smile, opening her arms in greeting. “I am Professor Bustier, Deputy Headmistress and Head of Ravenclaw here at Hogwarts. In a few moments I will take you to the Great Hall where you will all be sorted into your houses, which will be like your family while you are here with us. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. It is my hope that you will do your best here at Hogwarts, and we are here to help in any way we can.”

Professor Bustier turned to Tikki. “Thank you for bringing them here, Miss Tikki, Mister Plagg. I will take it from here.”

Tikki nodded, tuning to the students once again. “Good luck!” she said with a wave, walking into the castle with her cat trotting behind her. 

“Follow me please,” Professor Bustier said, walking down the hall as well. They trailed behind her, steps echoing on the stone floors and walls, heads trained upward in an attempt to take in all of the sights of the castle. None of them noticed the door they had come through close on its own.

The group came to a stop in front of another set of doors within a grand hall. They could hear a lot of voices coming through the cracks. 

“Just a moment, please.” 

Professor Bustier opened the doors a little to peak inside, the voices becoming much louder as she did so. 

“Alright then, come with me,” she smiled, opening the door wide and stepping through into the bright light.

The new students shuffled forward in awe, eyes looking up at the ceiling that looked like the night sky. There were candles floating in the air above 4 long wooden tables, each filled with students. They walked down the center isle in silence, each one too enraptured by the scene to speak. 

The group came to a stop in front of a large head table that was placed on a dais so it was placed a little above the rest of the tables, behind which sat the adults who Marinette assumed were the teachers. 

Professer Bustier walked up the couple of steps onto the dais, standing beside where a stool stood with a raggedy hat placed on top. 

It was silent for a few moments before the hat opened its brim like a mouth and began to sing, telling about the traits of each of the houses and that it would sort them to where they were meant to me. 

Everyone applauded as the hat bowed to each table, afterwards going still once again.

Professer Bustier produced a large scroll of parchment, unrolling it and calling the first student’s name. 

A dark skinned boy with glasses walked up and sat on the stool nervously, almost jumping when Professer Bustier placed the hat on his head. Marinette recognized him as the boy in the boat who had protested when the blond boy went to sit with Chloé.

“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat called out after a few moments.

The table to the far left erupted into cheers, prompting the boy to slip off of the stool and go sit with his new house. 

“Agreste, Adrien!” Professor Bustier called out. 

The blond boy unraveled himself from Chloé and walked up to the hat.

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

The boy let out a relieved smile, heading toward the table on the far right. 

Of course, Chloé was placed into Slytherin, the Sorting Hat barely needing a moment to decide. A red headed girl went next, and the hat called out Slytherin again. The girl, whose name was Sabrina, smiled widely before practically skipping over to sit next to Chloé, who looked like she couldn’t care less.

“Césaire, Alya!”

Said girl turned to Marinette. “Wish me luck!” she whispered.

“You don’t need it,” Marinette whispered back.

Alya walked up to the stool and sat down, looking very excited as the hat was placed on her head. 

“RAVENCLAW!” 

She smiled as she started to walk to the table second from the left, Marinette giving her a high-fave as she passed. 

“Dupain-Cheng, Marinette!”

The black-haired girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, starting to walk up the steps toward the Sorting Hat. She sat down on the stool, knuckles white from the gripping the sides so tightly. 

She felt the hat get placed on her head, a voice soon coming from within the depths. 

_“Hmm, aren’t you a tricky one…”_

Marinette stayed silent, biting her lip.

_“You would do well in Gryffindor, I see a lot of courage in your heart.”_

She shook her head slightly. “I’m not brave enough for that.”

 _“I disagree,”_ the hat said. _“You are willing to help those in need. You could be a great superhero in another life.”_

Marinette shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not bothering to respond. 

 _“You are very ambitious,”_ the hat mused. _“You could do well in Ravenclaw. You are also very hard working. Fashion design, hum?”_

Marinette nodded, impatiently waiting for the hat to make up its mind.

_“Well, if you don’t want to be in Gryffindor, then it will have to be-“_

“SLYTHERIN!” the hat said out loud for everyone to hear.

Marinette let out a wide smile and hopped off the stool, heading over to her house table with a spring in her step, finally glad that that was over. She settled down in one of the open seats, and unfortunately that was directly across from Chloe Bourgeois. 

The sorting continued, one by one each of the other students went up to talk to the hat. The pink-haired girl with the toad, who Marinette figured out was Alix, came to sit next to her, the girls greeting each other with a smile. Another girl with light-tipped hair and sly eyes sat on the other side of Alix. 

After everyone was sorted Headmaster Damocles, a owlish looking man, stood and introduced himself, giving a speech about starting the year off right and wishing everyone the best of luck in their studies.

The headmaster clapped his hands and a feast appeared on the table, much to everyone’s relief. They were all _starving._  

As Marinette ate her eyes searched for Alya, finding her sitting at the table next to her mid-laugh as she talked with her housemates. Marinette let out a small smile. She hoped that her and Alya would be able to remain friends despite being in different houses. At least Alya wasn’t in Gryffindor, or else keeping up the friendship would be even harder than it already was. 

Marinette chatted with her classmates for the rest of the feast and tried her best to ignore Chloé along with everyone else sitting near them, excluding Sabrina who just about fawned over her. 

Marinette opted to talk with Alix most of the time. She learned that the girl had been deliberately trying to loose her toad at the dock, having wanted an owl but her parents giving her a toad instead. She was very passionate about the injustice about the whole thing. Marinette also learned that she was a Metamorphmagus, or someone who could change their appearance at will, which explained the pink hair. 

“I can’t make myself taller though, which is a huge bummer.”

After finishing the feast, Marinette and the rest of the first years followed the Slytherin prefects to the dungeon where their common room was. The Prefects explained that in order to get into the common room, they had to speak the current password to the wall, which will open up and allow them to enter if they get the password right. If they can’t remember the password then they are to wait in front of the wall for someone who does.

One of the Prefects spoke the password (“Miraculous,” because they were simply the best) and walked into the common room. 

It was very well decorated in Marinette’s opinion, comfy chairs around a huge fireplace and multiple sets of tables, chairs, and desks where student’s could do their schoolwork. There was a glass ceiling that showed them a view from the bottom of the lake, which caused the light to be green. They were showed to the dormitories that already had their trunks at the foot of each bed, girls and boys having their own hallway (“Boys, don’t do down the Girl’s hallway unless you want to become terribly itchy in places you don’t want to be.”)

“Okay girls, if you will follow me,” the girl prefect said, gesturing in the direction of their corridor. Once she was sure that she had everyone she started to walk. “Your trunks and other things have already been put in your room for you with the exception of your owls, which have already been taken to the owlery, which is in the West Tower.” She arrived at the door, giving the knob a quick twist to open it. “This door can be very tricky, so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t open sometimes. Just be firm with it and you should be fine.”

But the girls were barely paying attention. They all rushed into the room, quickly finding their trunks at the foot of what had become their beds.

Chloé, however, didn’t step foot into the room.

“Where is my room?”

The prefect smiled through her confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I’m the Minister of Magic’s daughter,” Chloé spoke as if the prefect was stupid. “You can’t expect me to  _ share a room _ , especially with these people.” She sent a particularly nasty look in Marinette’s direction, to which she got a huff as Marinette crossed her arms. 

“I’m sorry Miss Bourgeois, but the only students who get their own rooms are the Head Boy and Girl. You’re gonna have to share like everyone else.”

That was not what Chloé wanted to hear. She stomped on the floor and angrily placed her hands on her hips. “Just wait until my father hears about this!”

The prefect clearly didn’t know what to do. She bit her lip in nervousness, obviously not wanting to get in trouble with the Ministry. After a moment she stepped further into the room and gestured toward the curtains that surrounded each bed. “You can always draw these around your bed whenever you want privacy until we get this all sorted out. How’s that?”

Chloé scowled and crossed her arms. “It will do.” 

The prefect let out a relieved breath. “Perfect! Well I’ll let you ladies get settled. You will get your class schedules tomorrow at breakfast from Professor Mendeleiv, our head of house. Don’t worry about getting lost the first few days, this castle is huge so it’s easy to get turned around. The professors are pretty understanding about being tardy. Do you guys have any other questions?”

All of the girls shook their heads, except for Chloé who was already in her bed with the curtains shut tight. 

“Let me know if you do, I’m here to help. I know being here is a big adjustment but I know you all will have an amazing time here. Welcome to Hogwarts!” She gave one more smile and a wave before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her. 

Because it had been such a long and eventful day for all of them the first year Slytherins were not in the mood to chat so they quickly changed into their pajamas and retired to bed.

Marinette stared at the ceiling, thinking about all that had happened. She couldn’t wait to get her class schedule at breakfast the next day, and to write to her parents about all of it. 

She smiled and turned to her side, snuggling into the warm bed. She was ready to start this new chapter in her life. 


	3. Not All Slytherins Are Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette attends her first flying lesson and helps out a Gryffindor boy who is having some trouble with his broom.

Marinette breathed in the fresh air as she stepped through the huge oak front doors and into the sunshine. It was a perfect day for her first official flying lesson.

She was disappointed that Alya wouldn’t be in the same class as her, and then got even more so when she realized that Chloe would be complaining the entire time about how the wind would mess up her hair and how she would be surrounded by Gryffindors. But Marinette was determined to not let that destroy the miraculous feeling of flying through the air on a broomstick. She had been looking forward to this ever since she had gotten her Hogwarts letter. Despite being the child of two half-bloods she had grown up in the muggle world, so she was never able to learn how to fly without raising some _major_ questions from their neighbors. She had been looking forward to this for while, and now the day was finally here. 

Marinette had made sure to get there early so she wouldn’t end up next to Chloé during class, choosing to stand near a broom in the middle of the lineup once she got there. She watched as the rest of the first years from Slytherin and Gryffindor filed out from the front doors in groups of two and three, filling in the remaining spots, but the broom to her right remained without a rider. 

The professor, who had been supervising them the whole time, yelled to one of the students who was standing a little farther away from everyone else.

“Nino, if you want to fly today, you need to actually stand next to a broom instead of hiding in the back.”

  With a grumble the Gryffindor boy shuffled over and came to stand in the empty spot next to her, arms crossed and looking like he definitely didn’t want to be there. 

The instructor, who introduced himself as Professor D’argencourt, instructed them on how to get their broom off the ground, how to gently take off and land, and other safety precautions (there weren’t many). Throughout the entire lesson Marinette kept sneaking glances at the boy next to her, whose frown remained on his face the entire time. She didn’t understand how someone could be anything but ecstatic about learning how to _fly._

After the professor was done with his speech he told everyone to spread out and try to fly in circles. Marinette took her broom and walked toward the treeline, making sure she had enough space around her. 

She mounted the broom and pushed off the ground, raising a few feet before leaning her body to guide the broom in a lazy circle. When she was halfway around she noticed the boy from before still on the ground, seemingly arguing with his broom. Marinette frowned as she watched for a few moments. He was being way to aggressive.

Marinette flew down to the boy, hovering a few feet from the ground. “What are you doing?” she asked him.

The Gryffindor first year looked up in surprise at the sound of her voice. He held his hand up to block the sun from his eyes so he could see her better. “I’m trying to get this stupid broom off the ground but it won’t listen to me,” he complained, kicking the grass near the broom in frustration. 

Marinette tilted her head to the side. “But you got it off the ground before, didn’t you? During the lesson?”

The boy sighed as he looked at his broom, crossing his arms. “Yeah, I don’t know what’s different now. I’m doing the exact same thing.” 

Marinette took pity on the boy and flew the rest of the way down to the ground, landing lightly on her feet. “Let me see you do it, maybe I can help.”

The boy stared at her for a second before shrugging and turning to hold his hand above the broom, shouting “UP!” over and over again right after the other. 

Marinette winced and put her hand on his arm. “Stop! You’re being too aggressive.”

He let his hand fall to his side, looking at her in confusion. “But I thought D’argencourt said to say it firmly.”

“Right, and there’s a difference between being firm and rude,” she said matter-of-factly.

“What does the broom care if I’m rude? It’s a _broom,”_ he said, crossing his arms again.

Marinette shook her head. “Let me guess, you’re muggleborn?”

The boy’s face closed off as he backed away from her a little. “Yeah, so what? Are you gonna make fun of me now?”

Marinette’s eyes widened in shock. “No, of course not! Why in the world would I do that?”

“Because you’re a Slytherin,” he said, eyeing her warily, “and all Slytherins hate muggleborns.”

“That’s not true!” said Marinette heatedly. “Where did you hear that?”

“From my roommate Kim, he warned me about you guys.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Not all Slytherins are bad people.”

“Then why is it _so important_ to you that I’m muggleborn?”

“Because if you weren’t then you would know that it is not _just_ a broom. You need to be firm, yes, but you also need to respect it so it doesn’t send you flying off when you’re 100 feet in the air.”

“It can’t do that,” the boy said disbelievingly. 

“It can, and it will if you keep shouting at it like that,” she said firmly. 

“I don’t believe you.”

“Here,” she said while rolling her eyes. moving him out of the way so she could stand next to his broom. Holding out her right hand, she commanded, “Up!”

The broom flew right into her hand.

“Woah dude, how’d you do that?” the boy said in wonder.

Marinette smiled at him while holding out the broom. “It just takes the right tone.”

“Wow.” The boy took the broom from her, staring at it in wonder. He looked up at her, the look never leaving his face. “I’m Nino,” he introduced himself, holding out the hand that wasn’t holding the broom.

She smiled wider and placed her hand in his. “Marinette.”

After that Marinette spent some time with Nino, working with him until they were both flying lazy circles around the field like they were told. 

_“_ How does Professor D’argencourt know your name?” Marinette questioned, turning a little on her broom to look at him.

Nino shrugged, eyes focused on his hands so he wouldn’t grip the broom too tight. “He’s my head of house, he came to introduce himself to everyone after the opening feast. Let’s just say that I didn’t make the best first impression,” he chuckled.

“What did you do?” Marinette asked in horror.

“Nothing major, I just wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying because I was too preoccupied dropping some beats onto the table with my hands. Apparently I was being “disruptive” and “disrespectful” but you know what’s disrespectful? Not having electricity. Like how dare they not let me listen to my tunes or have my phone. That’s just messed up, man.”

“That sounds like something my friend Alya would say,” Marinette said laughing.

“Is she is Slytherin too?”

“No, she’s in Ravenclaw. We met on the train, and we have Charms and Herbology together. She’s really cool, you’d like her.”

“Well if she’s in Ravenclaw then I have Transfiguration and Defense Against The Dark Arts with her.”

“You should say hi to her, maybe we could all become friends!” said Marinette excitedly.

Nino laughed, almost falling off his broom. He squeaked in surprise before readjusting his grip so he wouldn’t fall. “That sounds awesome! But only if my bro Adrien can join us.”

Marinette took a moment and stared directly in front of her. “Adrien Agreste?” she asked carefully.

“Yeah, you know him?” Nino questioned excitedly.

“Unfortunately,” Marinette muttered.

Nino wobbly slowed to a stop, causing Marinette to stop as well, albeit more smoothly than he had. “What do you mean?” he asked.

Marinette sighed, looking up into the sky. “He’s friends with Chloé Bourgeouis, right? I don’t think I wanna hang out with someone who’s just like her, I get enough of her in the dormitory already.”

“But the dude’s not like that,” Nino said with a furrowed brow. “Trust me, I’ve met him and he doesn’t seem like the Chloé type to me.”

Marinette looked at him with apprehension. “Okay, if you say so. I’ll try to say hi to him tomorrow if you do the same with Alya.”

Nino flew closer and reached a hand out to her, a big smile on his face. “Deal.”

Marinette couldn’t help but laugh, grasping his hand in hers once again. “Deal.”


	4. Trying to be Nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette tries her best to talk to Adrien to keep up her end of the deal with Nino, but isn’t sure how to be nice to someone who surely hates her.

Marinette came up to stand next to Alya in Greenhouse #3 after Professor Mendeleiev was done talking, immediately putting on her gardening gloves and goggles with a sigh. 

Her friend gave her a sideways glance. “Someone doesn’t sound happy.”

The Slytherin girl sighed again, giving the plants before her a disgusted look. “I have to talk to Agreste today.”

“What? Why?” Alya asked in surprise, filling up her pot with dirt.

“I met his friend Nino yesterday during flying,” Marinette explained, dragging an empty pot from the middle of the table to rest in front of her. “I said that you and him could be good friends, and he agreed to talk to you today if I talked to his friend.” She paused in the middle of scooping up some dirt, turning to look at Alya. “Oh yeah, a Gryffindor named Nino is gonna try to talk to you today, I forgot to tell you.”

“How kind of you to mention that to me right away,” Alya said with a laugh.

Marinette smiled sheepishly, pressing the Moly seeds inch deep into the soil as instructed and picking up the watering can. “Sorry, Alya. I just really don’t want to talk to this Agreste guy.”

“You know, you never explained to me what he did to make you hate him so much,” Alya pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“Trust me,” she said as she picked up her pot to put it by the window, “you don’t wanna know.”

~~~

Marinette sat in the front row of her DADA class, bouncing her leg up and down as she stared at the door. She watched as both Slytherins and Hufflepuffs alike filed into the classroom, each taking their seats. 

They had had lunch before this but Marinette had left early, giving some lame excuse to Alix about how she had to get a good seat. In reality she was waiting for someone. She had deliberately sat in the spot he had occupied yesterday to make sure that she talked to him, or else she knew that she would come up with a reason not to do it. All of this effort because of a stupid promise she had made.

Marinette groaned, putting her head in her hands, propped up by her elbows on the desk in front of her. He probably was just like Chloé since he was friends with her, and after yesterday with her yelling and giving him the cold shoulder he probably thought the same about her. She had no idea how she was going to actually talk to him now, let alone be friendly. 

“Excuse me?”

Her hands dropped onto the desk, making a soft thud. She looked up to see the boy who had been wreaking havoc on her thoughts all day, and not in a good way. Adrien was staring down at her in confusion.

“Hi,” was all she managed to get out. 

He shifted his weight to the other foot, obviously uncomfortable. “Hi?”

They stood in silence for a minute, neither looking at the other.

Adrien cleared his throat, deciding to speak first. “Why are you in my seat?” he asked, not unkindly.

Marinette looked down at her clenched fists in her lap. She could do this. She stood up, her fists now at her sides. “I wanted to talk to you,” she said, overly serious. 

Ok, not what she was going for, but true and concise. It was a start.

“Is this about yesterday?” he asked timidly. “Because I already apologized-“

“Yeah and that went _super_ well,” Marinette said, rolling her eyes. And with that comment all of her progress, however little it was, had been ruined. She immediately looked down, visibly wincing at herself.

“Well, um…” he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. “Since you’re in that seat, I’ll just sit next to you then, is that alright?”

All Marinette could do is nod. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth she would say something mean again. Why did she agree to talk to such an awful person?

She sat down on the bench, leaving room for Adrien to slip past her and sit down as well. He opened up his bag and took out some parchment and a quill and ink.

“So…” he started, putting his backpack down on the floor, turning his head to look at her with curiosity in his eyes. “You wanted to talk to me?”

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, ready to explain the whole thing but Chloé interrupted them when she called out to Adrien, effectively putting an end to their conversation. The blonde girl and her ever-present shadow, Sabrina, sat on Adrien’s other side and dominated his attention, Chloé glaring at Marinette every time Adrien wasn’t looking. 

“Why are we sitting in the front _again,_ Adrikins? You know I don’t like…”

Meanwhile Marinette just stared down at her parchment, trying to ignore their conversation. She needed to keep her promise to Nino, but she wasn’t sure how to do that with Chloé there. Talking to two mean people was way worse than trying to talk to one. Luckily she just had to sit next to them today, she could move to her regular seat behind them tomorrow and forget about this whole thing. 

“Hello class,” Professor D’argencoret announced as he walked into the room, halting all conversation between the students. “I hope you like your seats, because this where you will sit for the rest of the semester.”

Marinette stiffened, eyes growing wide. Now because of this stupid deal and her stupid mouth refusing to speak properly she was stuck sitting next to Adrien and Chloé all year. Perfect.

Throughout the whole class period Marinette could feel Adrien sneaking glances in her direction. She knew that he was probably very confused as to why she wanted to talk to him, and now that she would forever be sitting next to him there was no way she could avoid him. She resisted the urge to burry her face in her hands again.

Marinette was both thankful and terrified when the class finally ended. That was the longest hour of her life, but now she had no choice but to talk to Adrien since they had their next class together. 

The boy in question immediately turned to her as soon as the Professor was done talking. “Want to walk with me to Transfiguration?”

Marinette stared at him in shock before nodding. “Sure.”

They both started to pack up their stuff in awkward silence.

“Adrikins!” they heard a whiny voice call from the other side of Adrien, the blonde girl hanging on his arm with a visible pout on her face. “I thought you were going to walk me to our next class.”

Adrien looked at her in confusion. “I don’t remember saying that…”

“Yes you did, remember?” Chloé said while batting her eyes. “Yesterday you said that you would _love_ to walk with me to class, and that means that you would walk with me for the rest of the year.” 

Adrien gently took his arm away from her grip. “Sorry Chlo, I already said I was walking with Marinette,” he said, shooting the girl a smile over his shoulder. Marinette stared back with a neutral look, causing the smile to slip off of his face. He cleared his throat, turning to look back at Chloé. “I’ll walk with you tomorrow, ok?”

He slung his bad over his shoulder and Marinette did the same, turning toward the door and turning right down the corridor, leaving a seething Slytherin girl in their wake. 

They walked in silence for a few minutes, neither one knowing what to say.

“You know,” Adrien said eventually, “Nino said something to me this morning about you wanting to talk to me today, which I thought was really weird.”

Marinette gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, he and I made a deal during flying yesterday that he would talk to my friend Alya and I would talk to you, so we could possibly all be friends together. It’s a stupid idea, I know.”

“No, I think it’s great!” Adrien said a little too loudly, his voice echoing off of the stone walls. He immediately realized what had happened and gave Marinette a shy smile in apology, who simply stared at him. “I mean, I would love it if we could be friends,” he said quieter, looking down at his feet. 

Marinette stared straight ahead, cogs turning in her head. “Why would you want to be friends with me?” she asked finally.

Adrien looked at her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“You’re already friends with Chloé, who obviously hates me. So don’t you hate me too?”

He fiercely shook his head. “No, of course not! Where in Merlin’s beard did you get that idea?”

Marinette gave him a hard look. “You bumped into me and made me mess up my spell yesterday in transfiguration. Chloé and Sabrina laughed afterword, so you guys probably planned it so you could make fun of me.”

“It was an accident, I swear!” Adrien said desperately, waving his hands to emphasize his point. “I would never deliberately make you or anyone else mess up, honest.”

Marinette eyed him warily. “Okay, let’s say I believe you. Don’t you think it will be a little hard on you, being friends with two people who can’t stand each other?”

It was Adrien’s turn to think in silence for a moment. “Chloé was my first friend, so I think on some level I will always be loyal to her. But you seem really nice, and if Nino wanted us to talk then I think we should talk,” he finished with a decisive nod.

“So… you don’t hate me too?” Marinette clarified.

“No, of course not,” Adrien said, trying to show just how serious he was with his tone.

Marinette shrugged. “I just figured that you must after I yelled at you yesterday. I guess I should apologize for that,” she said looking down.

“Hey,” said Adrien softly putting a hand on her shoulder, bringing them to a stop and turning to face her, green eyes shining. “I could never hate you. In fact, I don’t think I could hate anybody,” he laughed, causing Marinette to give a short chuckle as well. He calmed down after a moment, squeezing her shoulder with a nervous smile. “Can we put yesterday behind us? Maybe, start over?”

Marinette smiled in return. “Yeah, we can do that.”

She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and stepped back a little, smiling while holding out her hand. “Hi, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It’s nice to meet you.”

Adrien gave a wide smile in return and laughed again, and Marinette swore all her breath left her lungs at the heavenly sound.

He reached out to place his hand in hers, shaking it up and down a little. “It’s nice to meet you too, Marinette. I’m Adrien Agreste.”

When he smiled at her and she felt her heart skip a beat, Marinette knew that she was in deep trouble. 

 

~~~

“Wait,” Nino said between laughs, “so she thought you hated her?”

Adrien chuckled as well, readjusting the bag on his shoulder. The situation was kind of funny in hindsight, he had to admit. “Yeah, she thought that because I was friends with Chloé that I automatically didn’t like her.”

Nino calmed down after a moment, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “Well, it probably didn’t help that you knocked her over during class. Like wow dude, how smooth.”

The blond’s face flared up in embarrassment and he started to shuffle his feet as he walked. His father hated it when he did that, but his father wasn’t there. So he did it anyway. “It’s not like I did it on purpose.”

Nino kept smiling, “If I had known that you had already made such a strong impression I wouldn’t’ve told Marinette to talk to you. She’s already suffered enough from you, sounds like.”

Adrien scoffed, causing Nino to laugh. They walked down the corridor, each talking about whatever came to their minds and being silly. Adrien hadn’t been able to talk to someone this freely since his mother died.

“Nino?” he asked after a while. 

“Yeah dude?”

“I’m glad that we met on the train,” Adrien said with sincereity.

Nino smiled and wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulders, giving him a sideways hug. “Me too, man. People won’t think that you’re rude like Chloé now that you’re friends with someone as cool as me.”

Adrien laughed, shoving Nino away from him with a smile. He really was glad to have a real friend for once.

They continued to walk, and Adrien became too distracted to notice the ghost in front of him until he had already passed through it. He shivered at the cold feeling that went down his spine.

He immediately turned to address the ghost that continued to float down the corridor. "I'm terribly sorry, ma'am."

Madam Weather turned to face him with a twirl of her umbrella and a smile, continuing to float the same way she had always been. "No harm done."

Adrien smiled in return and continued to walk with Nino in the other direction, not in the least bit aware of how the smile dropped from Madam Weather's face only to be replaced by a sneer. 

"At least, not yet."


	5. Completing the Circle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya is wary of Adrien Agreste, and decides to talk to him during flying.

Alya was only half paying attention to Professor D’argencoret. She kept her eye on Adrien Agree throughout the entire lesson, observing as he listened attentively like the model student he is. 

She had talked to Nino earlier in Transfiguration, the Gryffindor boy having walked up to her and started making conversation just like Marinette said he would, and Alya will admit that Marinette was right. He was pretty cool. Throughout the two classes they had together after lunch, Alya and Nino had talked about a wide variety of topics, including one Adrien Agreste. 

Apparently Adrien and Nino had met on the platform and ended up in the same compartment together. Nino had experienced Chloé’s rudeness first hand when he had accidentally tripped over her trunk and fell flat on his face. Instead of asking if he was alright like a decent human being, all Chloé was concerned about was how her trunk was now “damaged” (is was not, nothing was wrong with it). That was when Adrien had come onto the platform with his father’s assistant, Nathalie, and Chloé had pretty much attacked him in a hug and insisted that he sit with her. Adrien had saw Nino still laying on the floor (he had hit his head pretty hard) and rushed over to help him up, leaving Chloé to talk to her friend Sabrina. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Adrien had asked in concern. 

Nino winced and held his head as he got his feet back under him. “Not really to be honest, but I’ll be alright.”

“How did you fall?” Adrien questioned as he rejected his bag on his shoulder, which had fell off in his rush to help Nino up.

Said boy glared in Chloé’s direction. “I tripped over her ginormous trunk. Like seriously, who needs that many clothes?”

Adrien laughed a little, not wanting to make fun of his only friend but having to agree. 

He had started to follow Chloé onto the train when Nino asked if Adrien wanted to sit with him. The boy had been hesitant at first, saying that Chloé was pretty much his only friend so he felt like he had to sit with her.

Nino had given him a disbelieving look. “Dude, I think it’s time for you to make some new friends. I’m Nino.” 

Then they shook hands, sat in a compartment together, and talked for the entire ride to the castle, effectively forming their friendship.  

Earlier that day the Gryffindor boy said to Alya that Adrien was a little socially awkward, but his heart was in the right place. As Alya watched him, she could see how Nino would think that. 

Adrien was always listening to the professor as he explained the ins and outs of flying, despite him probably already knowing everything about it. However, when it came time to spread out and fly in some circles on their own, she could tell that he was a beginner. There was no way that someone who flew all the time growing up could be that excited. 

Alya flew around on her won for a few minuted before she decided that it was time to introduce herself. After all, if the four of them were going to be friends then she would have to talk to him eventually. 

“Hey!” she called to Adrien as she flew closer, surprising him enough that he almost fell off his broom. 

Alya laughed a little, giving him an disbelieving look and said, “Haven’t you flown before?”

Adrien was gripping the broom tightly with both hands but had a grin that could spilt his face. “No, have you?”

“Oh yeah, all the time,” Alya said while she observed him. “I was just wondering how a pureblood like you had never flown before. 

Adrien started to reach up to scratch the back of his neck but immediately returned his hand to the handle after he started to wobble. “My father wouldn’t allow it, saying that it was too dangerous and I needed to stay safe. I was never even supposed to leave the mansion grounds, unless it was to attend an event or something official. I had to beg him to let me come to Hogwarts, even.”

Alya stared wide-eyed at him, shocked. “I…was not expecting that answer. I’m sorry, that must really suck.”

Adrien laughed. “Yes, it sucks a lot. I’m glad to be here though, even if my dad would kill me if he knew that I was flying.”

They both laughed at that, slowly moving forward and to the right to complete a circle.

“Have you met Marinette, from Slytherin?” Alya asked after she had told Adrien to fix his grip on his broom. Of course she knew that he had, but she wanted to know how their meeting went and Adrien was a primary source of the event. “She loves to fly, and like you didn’t get to do it at home so she was really excited to come here and learn.”

Adrien smiled. “Yeah, I officially met her earlier today. She’s really cool.”

“What do you mean, ‘officially’?” Alya gave him a confused look.

“Well…” Adrien trailed off, getting a little uncomfortable. “Yesterday I had accidentally bumped into her in Transfiguration as she was casting a spell, causing it to almost hit Professor Harprèle. Chloé and Sabrina had laughed, and Marinette thought that they put me up to it or something, so she yelled at me. But today we talked about it, and now neither of us hate the other,” he finished, chuckling a little.

“Wow, that’s crazy,” Alya marveled.

“She didn’t tell you?” Adrien asked the Ravenclaw, confused. 

“No,” Alya admitted, “but I knew that she was angry at you for something. She didn’t want to talk about it. I was hoping to talk to her at dinner tonight about it, but I figured that I could just ask you.”

Adrien nodded. “Makes sense. And because Nino and Alya wanted all of us to be friends, the two of us talking now makes it easier.”

“Exactly! You know, you could be in Ravenclaw with those smarts,” Alya complimented.

“Nah,” Adrien waved her comment off. “I like Hufflepuff, it’s exactly where I need to be.”

Alya looked at this boy who was flying for the first time, knuckles white from gripping the broom so hard but a big smile on his face, eyes closed as he enjoyed the feeling of his hair blowing in the wind. He looked happy. Content.

“Yeah,” Alya agreed. “I can see that.”


	6. Potions and Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino has potions with Marinette and is very impressed with her ability to lie, Adrien and Nino study and meet up with a ghost who recognizes Adrien’s name, then all four first years have dinner together.

Nino waved to Marinette when he saw her rush through the door to the potions classroom. She waved back and started to make her way over to where he was sitting, weaving in between the desks as she went. 

“Hey girl,” he said when she sat down with a huff. “How’s it goin’?”

“Good! I almost didn’t make it on time, but I’m here!” she said, trying to catch her breath. 

“Isn’t your common room, like, down the hall?” Nino asked. “It shouldn’t take you that long to get here.”

“Well I woke up 5 minutes ago,” she shrugged, “and no, my common room is actually on the other side of the dungeons, so it _is_ possible for me to be late. Plus I had to eat breakfast, so yeah.”

“Ah,” he said with a nod. 

“Alright class,” Professor Mendeleiev said from the front of the room. “Welcome to your first potions class. I know that I have already had the pleasure to meet all of you in Herbology, but this course is going to be structured differently.”

She went on to explain how they were supposed to read about the potion before class, and think about how the ingredients all come together and work the way they do. 

“Making a potion is an art, but also a science. In order to fully understand what you’re doing, you need to know how each component works and what their impact is.

“We will not be making a potion today,” she continued, causing a lot of the students groan, including Marinette and Nino. “Instead I shall teach you the properties of many of the ingredients you will encounter throughout the year. You will have to write a few essays as time goes on, so I suggest taking notes so you do not have to research this material later.”

There was shuffling as the students got out some parchment, quills, and ink. Professor Mendeleiev waved her hand and careful writing appeared on the chalkboard behind her.

“Flobberworm mucus is often used as a thickening agent, and is a vital ingredient for the Wiggenweld Potion which we will be making later this year…”

As she was writing, Marinette saw out of the corner of her eye that Nino was writing in a notebook. With a _pen_. 

She leaned closer to him. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

Nino turned, giving her a confused look. “I’m taking notes,” he whispered back. “What do you think I’m doing?”

“You can’t use a pen and paper!” she hissed, glancing around to see if anyone had noticed what Nino was doing. So far no one had.

“Why not?”

“Because we’re at Hogwarts! You have to-“

“Marinette! Nino!” 

The two first-years immediately straightened to find a not very happy potions master staring at them. 

“Do either of you have a question?”

Marinette and Nino glanced at each other in panic.

“Yes, professor,” Marinette lied. “I just was not sure what you had said, so I was asking Nino.”

Nino looked at her in surprise. 

“Is this true, Nino?”

The Gryffindor boy turned to the professor after Marinette jabbed him in the side with her elbow, a bit dazed. 

“Yup,” he said nodding.

“I see,” Professor Mendeleiev hummed. “Well if that was the case, you should’ve asked me to clarify. 5 points each from Slytherin and Gryffindor. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes ma’am,” they both mumbled. 

The potions master continued to talk, and the students started to take notes again now that everything was back to normal.

At least, it was for the rest of them.

Marinette tried to pay attention, but she kept sneaking glances in Nino’s direction. She could not believe that Nino had brought a pen to Hogwarts. Wasn’t it against the rules?

Marinette had used pens her entire life since she had grown up in the muggleworld, and had to admit that they were way easier to use. It was just that when you are at the castle, you use a quill and ink. It was how things were done.

Thinking back on it, Marinette couldn’t remember anything about pens being explicitly _banned_ from Hogwarts. She looked over at him again, watching as he scrawled across his notebook. And it would be easier to take notes without having to dip her quill in ink every few words or worry about the tip breaking. 

Eventually Marinette became successful in paying attention again, and after what felt like an eternity their double period of potions was over.

“Hey Nino?” she asked as she packed up her stuff.

“Yeah?”

“Do you, um, have another pen that I could possibly use? It seemed a lot easier to write notes that way, and to be honest I miss using pens and pencils,” Marinette said with a small laugh, swinging her bag over her shoulder. 

Nino gave her a smile, reaching a hand into his backpack before producing a different pen than the one he was using earlier. 

“Yeah no problem, dude. I gottchu.”

Marinette took the pen with a grateful smile. “Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver.”

Nino bashfully scratched the back of his head. “It’s nothing, really. Glad I could help.”

They started walking toward the door to head to lunch, weaving through the desks and potion stations. Marinette tripped on a leg of one of the tables, and Nino made sure to catch her arm so she wouldn’t fall to the floor.

“Thanks Nino,” Marinette said, straightening and giving her friend a smile in gratitude. “I can be very clumsy sometimes.”

“No problem,” he said, removing his hand from her arm since she didn’t need it anymore. “I’m so ready for lunch, I’m _starving_.”

“Me too,” Marinette agreed. “That class seemed to go on forever.”

“I felt like it would never end!” Nino exclaimed dramatically. 

Marinette laughed, and Nino joined in on her happiness.

The Slytherin and Gryffindor made their way up the stairs to get some lunch, grateful that they didn’t have any more classes until Monday and could enjoy their first weekend at Hogwarts.

~~~

“You should’ve seen it dude!” Nino said in awe, throwing his hands around in emphasis. “Like, she straight up lied to Mendeleiev. That woman is scary, it really was impressive.”

Adrien smiled, twirling his quill in his hands as he listened to his friend. They were in the corner of the library attempting to do some homework, which wasn’t going all that well. But Adrien couldn’t complain, he had a real friend now and talking with him took priority over anything else at that moment. 

“She sounds awesome.”

“She is!” Nino gushed, getting more excited. “And you should see her fly, bro. She looks like she lives up there, it’s insane.”

“Sounds like you really like her,” Adrien said in a teasing tone.

“Yeah she’s great,” Nino answered, oblivious to the connotation behind his friend’s words. “It’s too bad we only see each other twice a week.”

“Maybe you guys should hang out more,” Adrien suggested. He’d never seen Nino this worked up about another person besides some famous DJ, let alone a girl. He was trying to test the waters, see where Nino was at.  

“Dude, we should all hang out together!” Nino said excitedly. “Me, you, Marinette, and her friend Alya! You should totally meet Alya man, she’s awesome.”

Adrien laughed, his friend’s enthusiasm was contagious. “That sounds great! But I’ve already met Alya.”

“Really? When?” Nino asked in surprise.

“During flying yesterday, she helped me out when I was having some trouble with my broom. And I sat with her in potions today. You’re right, she’s really cool.”

“Right? Oh man, I can’t wait for all of us to hang out together. We should totally do that this weekend, like tomorrow! It’s Saturday, we have nothing to do.”

Adrien looked down at his parchment, surveying his remaining work. “I don’t know…”

“C’mon dude, you owe me! You’re making me do homework on a _Friday,_ like, I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my _life.”_

Adrien laughed a little. “Yeah, I guess we could take a break tomorrow.”

“Awesome! I can talk to Marinette and Alya tonight at dinner and we can all decide what we wanna do.”

“Mind if I come with you?” Adrien asked uncertainly. “I wanna talk to them too.”

“Sure dude, we could all have dinner together!” Nino exclaimed, jumping up and down in his seat in excitement. “Man, I’m so glad that we don’t have to sit at our house tables all the time. Like, I love my housemates, but I wanna hang with my bro, ya know?”

Adrien laughed. “I appreciate it, Nino. It’s great to have people to sit with during class and stuff.”

“Speaking of,” Nino said more seriously, “how are you adjusting? I know that being at Hogwarts is a big change from how your life was before.”

Adrien looked down at his paper and thought for a moment before nodding. “I’m doing better, thanks Nino. It’s nice to be around people my age for a change, although it’s a bit of an adjustment.”

“I fell ya, bro,” Nino sympathized. “I still trying to wrap my head around this whole magic thing. Like seriously,” he said while pointing at a book that zoomed past, floating up to the top of a ridiculously high bookshelf and putting itself away. Nino looked at Adrien, a deadpan look on his face. “That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Yet it is,” Adrien said with a smile, turning back to his homework. 

Nino did the same, both of the boys working in silence for a few minutes. 

“Ugh,” Adrien groaned as his quill broke, splattering ink all over his parchment. “I really hate these things.”

“Why don’t you use a pen?” Nino asked. “I can give you one of mine if you want.”

Adrien looked at the offered pen that Nino was holding out in apprehension. “I don’t want to take your pen, Nino. Then what will you write with?”

“I have a hundred of these, bro.” Nino dug into his bag and brought out another pen, just like what he did for Marinette this morning. “It’s seriously no big deal.”

Adrien reached out and took the offered writing utensil, looking at it in awe. “Thanks, Nino! I’ve always had trouble using quills so this is perfect.”

“Anything for you, dude,” Nino said with a smile. “I just don’t understand how you guys are still using quills and ink.”

Adrien shrugged, still marveling at his new pen. “No idea.”

“Like I get it,” Nino continued, “you guys have this aesthetic thing going on. But _man,_ at what cost?”

The Hufflepuff boy pressed down on the top of the pen, hearing it _click_ as the point revealed itself at the opposite side. 

“Wow,” Adrien said in wonder.

“If you’re this fascinated by a pen,” Nino said in disbelief, “then I can’t wait to show you some other muggle stuff.”

Adrien’s head snapped up, his friend having his full attention. “You can show me some other stuff?”

“Yeah dude, of course! You’ll have to come visit though, most of my stuff is at my house.”

Adrien visibly deflated. “I don’t know if my father would allow that,” he said sadly.

Nino looked over at his friend in pity. “We’ll find a way dude, I promise. I won’t let your old man keep you in that mansion forever.”

“Thanks Nino,” Adrien said with a smile. He was glad to have a friend that cared so much.

“On that note,” Nino said, standing and starting to pack up his stuff. “We should find our way to dinner, I’m starving!”

Right on cue, Adrien’s stomach rumbled. He smiled sheepishly up at Nino, who simply laughed. 

“Looks like you’re hungry too! Let’s go.”

Adrien packed up his stuff, making sure to put his new pen in a pocket in his bag so he wouldn’t loose it. The two boys walked out of the library and headed toward the Great Hall, Nino complaining about how this DJ he really likes just came out with new music but he has no way to listen to it. 

“Seriously dude, you guys need to update your tech.”

They turned a corner and saw a ghost wearing colorful robes floating across the corridor, about to pass through the wall. 

“Hey, Monsieur Bublé!” Nino shouted, waving. 

The ghost stopped just before he phased through, turning to look at the Gryffindor boy who was running down the hall toward him.

“Hello Nino,” Monsieur Bublé said with a smile. “What are you up to? Shouldn’t you be in the Great Hall?”

“We were just on our way now,” Nino said as he came to a stop before the ghost, a little out of breath. Adrien ran up after Nino and stood beside his friend. “Oh, I want you to meet my friend, Adrien Agreste.” Nino turned to address the Hufflepuff boy. “Adrien, this is Bob Bublé. He died like 100 years ago, isn’t that cool?” he said, jumping a little in excitement. 

Adrien smiled at his friend. “Yes, ghosts do tend to be dead.”

“Shut up, man,” Nino said, playfully punching him in the shoulder, causing the two boys to laugh.

“Agreste, did you say?”

They both looked back to Monsieur Bublé, who was staring intently at Adrien, smile gone. 

Adrien shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

The ghost simply shook his head in reply. “Just be careful, young man,” he said cryptically. “You never know when trouble may find you.” 

With that Monsieur Bublé floated through the wall, leaving the two boys to stare after him in confusion.

“Do you know what that was about?” Nino muttered.

Adrien shrugged. “How should I know, he’s your friend.”

They stood there for a few moments before Nino broke the silence. “Well that was weird, but whatever. We have some food to eat and friends to talk to!”

Adrien shook himself out of it. “Yeah, lets go.”

They both walked down the corridor, Nino continuing their conversation from before they had talked to the ghost. But Adrien’s mind was still on the strange way the ghost had reacted to his name. 

 _Why would someone who lived 100 years ago know my last name?_ he thought to himself. _Is he somehow connected to my family?_

Adrien turned to look behind him, making sure the ghost was still gone. He saw nothing.

He shook his head and faced forward again, trying to concentrate on what Nino was saying. He was probably worrying over nothing.

~~~

“Hey girls!” Nino said as he sat down next to Alya at the Slytherin table. “Whatcha talking about?” He reached out and grabbed a chicken leg, promptly biting down on it. 

Adrien sat down across from Nino, next to a red-faced Marinette, and reached for some food as well. 

“Oh, you know,” Alya said in a hinting tone as she winked at Marinette, “just girl stuff.”

“What does that mean?” Adrien asked, oblivious. Marinette’s face turned even redder.

“Dude!” Nino said throwing a piece of bread at his friend, causing him to yelp in surprise. “You can’t ask that!”

“Ask what?” Adrien said as he picked off the pieces of bread that were all over his robes. 

“About _girl stuff!_ ” Nino rolled his eyes. “That’s code for ‘stuff boys aren’t supposed to know’.” He turned to Alya with pride, obviously proud of himself for knowing that. “Right?”

Alya tried to hold in her laugh. “Yeah, that’s about it.”

Adrien, still confused, turned to Marinette. “Really?”

Marinette jumped in her seat and let out a small squeak. She looked up at Adrien, who was looking at her expectantly. 

“I-um..yes, yeah, that’s right,” she stuttered with a nod. 

Adrien gave her a questioning look. She was acting way different now compared to yesterday. Did he do something?

Adrien turned back toward Nino, who had Alya wrapped in a conversation about the lack of modern technology within Hogwarts. Alya looked very interested in what he was saying. Adrien smiled at the scene. He was glad Nino found someone to talk to about this, because he really had no idea what Nino was talking about half the time when it came to muggle stuff. 

He turned back toward Marinette, who was staring down at her plate, obviously uncomfortable. Adrien frowned. What was wrong with her?

He opened his mouth to ask her when Nino interrupted.

“So me and my bro were thinking,” Nino addressed the group, “that we should all hang out tomorrow! It’s Saturday, we need to have some fun. If it’s nice we could hang out by the lake or something.”

“And if it’s not?” Alya challenged.

“Then we will find something to do inside,” Nino answered unperturbed. “What do you say?”

Alya shrugged. “Yeah, I’m in! I have nothing to do tomorrow anyway.”

“So you’re saying that if you did have something to do, you wouldn’t make time for your new friends?” Nino dramatically put his hand over his heart. “I’m hurt.”

“Shut up!” Alya said as she pushed him lightly. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Adrien smiled fondly as the two bantered back and forth. Maybe he needed to rethink the whole Nino/Marinette thing and try to help Nino and Alya. But they were only in their first year, so that could wait.

“Yeah, we can hang out tomorrow,” Marinette said weakly. 

Adrien looked back at Marinette, his brow furrowing in concern. She was still looking down at her plate, giving no indication that she had spoken.

“You in, dude?” 

He snapped his head around to look at his friend, who was giving him a weird look. Nino’s eyes looked toward Marinette and back again. He had obviously seen Adrien staring at her. 

Adrien cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Yeah, of course!”

“Awesome!” Nino exclaimed. We should all meet here for lunch, then we can figure out what we’re gonna do. Sound good?”

Alya and Adrien both gave verbal confirmation, but Marinette just nodded. Nino didn’t seem to notice, going back to talking to Alya again.

Adrien picked at his food. He didn’t want to look at the girl beside him again, the look Nino had given him had suggested that he was being creepy. But that wasn’t his goal, Adrien just wanted to make sure that his new friend was alright.

Adrien dropped his fork, making hit clatter onto the plate. They were still friends, right?

“Did I do something wrong again?”

He saw Marinette look at him out of the corner of his eye. He looked back at her, an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry if I did, I really didn’t mean to.”

Marinette continued to gape at him, making no sound. 

Adrien cleared his throat, choosing to continue to speak. “I’m not really sure why you’re being weird, but if you tell me what I did I will make sure never to do it again.”

“No!” Marinette almost yelled, causing Adrien to reel back in shock. She noticed that she had spoken too loud and turned red, looking down again. “I-I mean, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

He watched as she played with her hands in her lap, looking very uncomfortable. 

“Then why are you acting weird?” Adrien asked. 

Marinette shifted in her seat and gave him a nervous smile. “I just have some things to think through, that’s all.”

Adrien nodded. “Well okay-“

“Not that I don’t appreciate your concern!” Marinette interrupted, waving her hands. “I just need to do this on my own, I guess. But yeah, thanks, um, thanks for asking,” she finished weakly.

Adrien gave a soft smile. “Of course, anytime. Let me know if I can do anything to help.”

Marinette smiled back at him, to which Adrien was glad to see. He didn’t like when his friends were upset. 

They both turned back to their dinner, joining Nino and Alya’s conversation when they could. Marinette was a lot more knowledgeable about muggle things than he was so she was able to relate more to what Nino was saying. 

Adrien looked around to each of his new friends. He was glad to be surrounded by such miraculous people so soon after beginning Hogwarts.


	7. Start of Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien gets some disappointing news from his father so he goes out for a ride on a broom, but ends up literally crashing into Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight time skip

Adrien slammed the letter down onto his desk, causing the sound to echo throughout the Hufflepuff common room. All conversation stopped as his housemates turned to look at him in surprise, but Adrien wasn’t paying attention to any of them.

He could not believe that his father would go on a business trip during Christmas holiday. 

Adrien took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. Ok, he could believe it, but that doesn’t mean that he has to like it. He could feel angry tears starting to well up in his eyes, and he tried to blink them away. This was not the time nor place to cry. 

He abruptly got up, his chair catching on the carpet and almost tipping over from the abrupt force. He hastily gathered up his stuff and walked to his dormitory, throwing everything onto his bed, not caring if his parchment got crumpled or assignments were ruined.

Adrien walked through the common room again, ignoring all the whispers and concerned glances. He walked through the painting and into the corridor, heading in the direction of the Great Hall. 

That was not his destination, though. He stomped passed and went straight through the front doors, heading into the brisk November air. It was then that he started to run.

 _Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry,_ he thought over and over again like a mantra. He could feel the tears burning behind his eyes, but he wouldn’t let them fall. Not yet. 

He almost ran into the door of the broom shed, he was running so fast. He tried to open it, but found it to be locked. 

Adrien took out his wand. _“Alohomora!”_ he shouted, and watched with satisfaction as the lock became undone. 

He tried the door again and was successful. He went inside and took the first broom he saw, not caring in the slightest what kind it was. 

Adrien brought it outside, mounted it, and took off into the sky, not bothering to close the shed again. He flew straight up for a few moments, his vision filled with the colorless cloud-covered sky. 

He came to a stop high above the grounds, hovering in place as he surveyed the area. He could see a few people wandering around the lawn, including the caretaker Tikki with her cat faithfully trotting behind her heading toward the castle. He couldn’t see anyone else on a broom, which he was grateful for. It was so peaceful up there and he didn’t want anyone else to ruin it. 

He tried to keep his mind clear of any thoughts, but eventually the letter wormed its way into his brain. Adrien felt frustrated tears start to fall down his face. He let out a growl, now angry at himself for being so affected by this. He should be used to it by now. His father had always ignored him, and just because he now goes to Hogwarts does not mean that anything would change. 

Adrien leaned forward and swooped down toward the castle. He zoomed around pillars and wove in between turrets, trying to go faster and faster. He needed to focus on something, anything else, and flying was the perfect solution. He leaned forward a little more, curving up and around one of the towers, once again shooting straight up into the sky. 

“Watch out!” he heard a voice scream.

Adrien tried to slow down, but it wasn’t enough. Another person crashed into him, causing them both to fly off in different directions, almost falling off of their brooms. 

“Woah!” Adrien shouted, trying to get his broom level and back under control. He grabbed onto his broom with both hands, knuckles white from his tight grip. He took a deep breath once his broom stopped moving, looking down from his place high above the ground. That was too close. He almost became an Adri-pancake. 

He looked up to see Marinette a distance away from him, who was just then getting her broom to cooperate with her. 

“Marinette?” he asked in surprise. 

The Slytherin girl looked up, catching his eyes with hers. A nervous smile immediately spread across her face and she gave a little wave. 

“How long have you been out here?” he asked in curiosity. 

Marinette looked toward the sky to think for a moment. “About an hour or so. You?”

Adrien shrugged. “Like, 15 minutes. Funny, I didn’t see you when I was looking around.”

Marinette shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, I was here.”

“Maybe my eyes are getting bad or something,” Adrien said with a laugh. “Where’d you get your broom?”

Marinette stared at him like he was going nuts. “From the broom shed? Where else would I get a broom?”

“But, the door to the shed was locked…” Adrien said uncertainly.

Marinette let out a little laugh, looking away in embarrassment. “Yeah well, I locked it again after I got my broom. I didn’t want anyone else to fly around with me.” She abruptly sat up straighter, looking at the Hufflepuff boy with wide blue eyes. “Not that I don’t want you here! I mean, I said I didn’t want anyone else, but since it’s you it’s okay, I guess-“

“Marinette,” Adrien said with a chuckle, “It’s fine, I can just go fly somewhere else.”

He started to turn his broom toward the forest when he heard her shout, “No!”

Adrien stopped and turned back around, giving her a questioning look. 

“I mean,” Marinette faltered now that she had his attention, “I won’t mind if you fly with me, it’s just that I’m clumsy and I don’t want to bump into you or something.”

Adrien had to laugh. “Well that already happened, and I don’t think it can get much worse than that.”

Marinette looked down at the ground, remorseful. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Adrien said with a smile. 

Marinette looked up and gave a shy smile in return. 

“Wanna fly together?” he asked after a moment of silence. 

Her face turned red. It was probably from the cold, Adrien thought. 

“Yeah, sure,” she said, turning her broom to fly away from Adrien. He leaned forward to go a little faster so he could catch up with her.

They flew in silence for a few minutes, neither really knowing what to say. 

Marinette coughed. “So why are you flying around?”

Adrien looked down. “It’s… complicated.”

There was silence for a moment, the only thing they could hear being the birds that were flying above them.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Marinette asked softly.

Adrien took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he thought. “Not really,” he said eventually. “It’s sorta… personal, I guess.”

“Ah,” Marinette said in understanding. 

“Why are you up here?” Adrien asked, trying to get the conversation off of himself.

Marinette looked at him out of the corner of her eye before looking forward again. “That’s personal too, I guess,” she said uncomfortably. 

“Ah,” Adrien said, mimicking her. 

There was more silence.

“How about this,” Marinette said suddenly. “While we’re flying, we don’t talk about our problems, okay? We just talk about random stuff, you know, to get our minds off of what’s bothering us.”

Adrien only needed to think for a moment before agreeing. “Sounds good to me.”

“Awesome. Ok, what I wanna know,” Marinette started, “is why they would keep a regular lock on the broom shed. Like, _alohomora_ was one of the first spells we learned. It’s not that hard to get in there.”

Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know. You would think they would put a magical lock on it, so it can only be opened by certain people or at certain times.”

“That would make so much more sense!” Marinette said, nodding. “Hogwarts is weird.”

For the next half hour they talked about anything that came to their minds, staying away from personal topics, of course. As time went on, Adrien began to notice that Marinette was more relaxed than she’d ever been around him. She was always pulling these crazy facial expressions based on the topic, which Adrien couldn’t help but smile at. The brisk air would mess up her bangs sometimes, causing her to laugh adorably before reaching up to fix it. She was always looking out toward the horizon with an easy smile on her face, looking perfectly content to stay up in the sky forever. 

Nino was right. She looked like she was born to fly. 

“Hey, you wanna race?” Marinette said unexpectedly, turning towards him. 

Adrien quickly looked away from her, realizing with a start that he had been staring. He cleared his throat. “Race?”

“Yeah!” she said, nodding. “We could race around the castle, see who makes it back here first. It’ll help us get our minds off whatever it is that’s bothering us.”

Adrien let out a wicked grin. “Sounds like a plan. You ready?”

Marinette shook out her arms before leaning back toward her broom with her own grin. “You bet. Ready,”

“Set,” he said, readjusting his grip.

“GO!” they both shouted, shooting off toward the south end of the castle. 

Adrien wove in between the turrets and towers just like he had before, but this time he was happy. He had a friend to fly with. He looked over to see Marinette hunched over her broom, the tip of her tongue sticking out in concentration. She looked over at him and gave him a smile. 

“Catch me if you can!” she shouted. 

Adrien watched in amazement as she flew over one of the roofs before turning her broom to go straight down the side. 

The Hufflepuff flew to the edge as well, just in time to see Marinette pull up right before she hit the ground. He could hear her laugh from all the way up there.

He couldn’t help but gape. “That girl is insane!”

“C’mon, slowpoke!” she shouted up at him through cupped hands around her mouth before turning around and zooming across the grass. 

Adrien felt that wicked smile come across his face again. “Oh, you’re on!” he shouted back, preparing to go straight down himself. He shook his head in amazement. “That girl is insanely _awesome.”_

He flew down the wall, pulling up a little before Marinette had, letting out a whoop as he did so. Adrien leaned to the right, in the direction the Slytherin girl had gone. He went as fast as he could, heart set on catching up to her. 

Of course he did not, she had had too much of a head start. She was waiting for him where they had started with a smile, breathing hard from the effort.

“What took you so long?” she asked him as he flew up to her.

“Well you know,” Adrien said nonchalantly, “I got distracted by the lady’s impressive broom skills. How long have you been flying?”

Marinette shrugged. “Just since we came to Hogwarts, so a couple of months.”

“Wow,” Adrien said in awe. He had been practicing for that long as well and he was nowhere near as good as her. “You’re really talented.”

“You’re not too bad yourself,” Marinette complimented in a playful tone.

Adrien reeled back in shock. He’d never seen this side of her before. He kinda liked it. 

“I mean,” Marinette backtracked, obviously embarrassed, “you’re not bad at all, you’re perfect- _you’re flying_ is perfect, yeah, that’s it. I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.”

Adrien laughed. _There_ was the Marinette he knew. 

“It’s okay, Mari, I understand,” he said with a kind smile. 

Marinette stared at him with a strange expression on her face. “Did you just call me Mari?”

Adrien’s smile dropped, his hand reaching up to scratch the back of his head, looking sheepish. “Yeah, is that ok?”

“No, yeah, um, yes that’s ok,” she stammered. “It just surprised me is all.”

“Ok then,” he said with a smile. He looked up to the sky to see that the sun was peaking through the clouds, low on the western horizon. Sadly, he needed to get his homework done. “It was miraculous flying with you Mari, really. We should do it again sometime.”

Marinette nodded furiously. “YES, yes, that would be awesome! I love yo- I mean, I love flying with you.”

Adrien gave her a fond smile. “Sounds good. Until next time, my lady.”

“See ya,” she said as she gave a little wave. 

Adrien returned the gesture and turned around to fly to the broom shed. He landed smoothly then looked up. Marinette could be seen doing loops in the air, and he could faintly hear her whooping. He had to smile. That girl was adorable. 

After he put the broom back, he started walking toward the castle. The smile that had been on his face turned into a frown, and his shoulders sagged while he walked. The thoughts that had caused him to go outside in the first place came rushing back. He didn’t want to go home to an empty house over break, so he would probably stay at Hogwarts.

Adrien sighed out loud, kicking a rock that was in his path and watching it land a few feet away. Maybe there was someone else he knew that was staying for the holiday, so he at least wouldn’t be lonely. If not, he could always find a ghost to talk to. 

He was at least glad that he could forget about his issues with his father for a little while. And it was all thanks to Marinette. 

The smile he had before retuned to his face. One thing was for sure - he couldn’t wait to fly with her again.


	8. Affirmations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette finds out everyone knows about her crush. Tikki and Plagg feel a disturbance, but Plagg does not want to talk about it.

“Are you serious?” Alya asked in disbelief, setting her stuff down on her desk. “You _flew_ with him?”

Marinette bit her lip to keep her smile from growing too big and nodded, taking out her History of Magic textbook from her bag. 

“And he wants to fly with you _again?”_

Marinette nodded even harder, not even trying to keep the smile off her face anymore.

“Dang girl, nice work,” the Ravenclaw nudged her friend with her arm. “Soon enough he’ll ask you out on a date.”

Marinette blushed furiously. _“Alya,”_ she hissed. Her friend had said that way too loud for her taste. 

Alya laughed. “What, it’s not like anyone heard. Right, Aurore?” she turned to her housemate who was sitting next to her. 

The blonde girl looked up from her parchment. “Hm?”

“Did you hear what I just said?” Alya repeated.

“Oh, no I didn’t,” Aurore shook her head. 

Alya looked back to Marinette and gave her a look that said _“see?”_

“But if it was about Adrien,” Aurore continued, “then don’t worry so much Marinette. Almost every girl, and a few boys, has a crush on him.”

Marinette squeaked and her eyes went wide. “H-how do you know that’s what I’m worried about?”

Aurore gave her a disbelieving look. “You’re kidding, right? It’s so obvious.”

The Slytherin girl groaned and buried her face in her hands. 

“If it’s any consolation,” Aurore said, “I’m rooting for you. You guys would be cute together. Plus, I think he likes you too.”

Marinette’s head snapped up. “What?”

Aurore shrugged. “He at least cares about you more than any of the other girls. So I think you would have the best chance.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Just don’t tell anyone else I said that, then we’d have a riot on our hands.”

“Too true,” Alya agreed. Marinette was too stunned to say anything. 

“But just so you know,” Aurore said as she leaned back,her voice returning to normal volume, “if I have even the slightest chance then I’m going for it.” She winked at Marinette. 

“You would be crazy not to,” Marinette agreed. 

“Alright class,” the old Chinese man said at the front of the room. “We have a lot to cover before Christmas holiday so let’s get started.”

~~~

Tikki suddenly looked up from the thestral harness she was trying to fix. The feeling she had just gotten was one she’d hadn’t experienced in a long time, and she did not miss it in the slightest. 

She looked over to where the black cat was sitting on the only empty windowsill in their hut. Plagg liked to sit there when the sun was out so she made sure to keep that space empty to prevent him from sitting on or knocking over anything. Because he would without a care. 

“Plagg, did you feel that?” she asked, scooting out her desk chair to face him better. 

The black cat didn’t even pause from licking his paw, running it over his head and ears to clean them.

“Plagg!” the red-haired woman tried again, slightly exasperated that her partner was being so obstinate.

Plagg stopped and set his paw down in front of him, green eyes half-lidded. He did not appreciate being interrupted during bath time. 

Tikki sighed. “Can you _please_ stop being such a cat?”

The feline narrowed his eyes even more before he was replaced by a lean man with black scruffy hair, his back leaning against the wall with his leg propped up on the sill. “You know that’s my natural state, Tikki.”

The woman scoffed. “No it's not, you just don’t like to do any of the work around here.”

Plagg swung his leg down off the ledge and gave her a half smile, tilting his head to the side and pointing at her with a single finger. “Very true.”

Tikki waited for a long moment for him to answer, but he looked perfectly content to just stare at her. She rolled her eyes. “So?” she asked impatiently.

The man stretched his arms over his head, groaning as he did so. “Merlin’s beard, it’s been awhile since I’ve been human.”

“Plagg.”

“Is there anything to eat?”

_“Plagg.”_

He jumped down from his perch and strolled over to the kitchen area. “Do we have any cheese?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Plagg poked his head around the side of the cabinet door that was separating them, giving her a smile. “You know I don’t like talking about this without getting some food first, my lady.”

Tikki rolled her head back and groaned. “You are so frustrating.”

“You know you love me.”

The woman gave him a look as she stood up, going to the cabinet next to the one he had opened. She reached in and took out a package of cookies, holding it out to him. “Do I know that? Do I _really?_ ”

Plagg looked at the package with distain. “Don’t we have anything other than sweets?”

“It’s not my fault you’ve been a cat for 2 weeks straight,” Tikki said as she shrugged. “When you’re human, then you get human food. That’s the rule, remember?”

“Yeah I remember,” Plagg mumbled under his breath as he snatched the cookies out of her grasp. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Tikki watched as Plagg set the package on the counter and opened it, taking a slow bite out of a cookie. 

“So _now_ can we talk about it?”

Plagg took his time to chew before swallowing. “What were we talking about?”

Her hand that was resting on the counter clenched as Tikki breathed through her nose, trying to buy herself some patience. “Did you feel that?” she asked slowly, like he was a child.

The man wiped his hands on his pants and leaned closer to her, resting his hand atop her closed hand. “All I can feel is you, my lady,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Tikki gave him an exasperated look. “You know that’s not what I’m talking about, Plagg.”

“Fine, yes,” Plagg said loudy, backing away from her and leaning his backside against the counter. He grabbed another cookie, shoving it in his mouth and talking around it. “Yes, I felt it. Now can we talk about the disturbing lack of cheese in this house?”

“You _know_ we need to talk about this, Plagg,” the woman said, moving so that she stood in front of him again. “If he’s really back-“

“I know, Tikki.” He gave her the most serious look she’s seen in a long time. “I just don’t want it to be true.”

“You think I do?” Tikki asked softly. “But we need to be prepared, last time-“

“I don’t want to talk about last time.”

Tikki stopped herself from continuing, instead beginning to really look at him. Hisarms were crossed, eyes downcast, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. 

She smiled at him in sympathy. 

“I know,” she said, pouring all the care and understanding she could into her words. “Last time was… well, it never should’ve happened. Which is why,” she pulled at his arms and grabbed his hands in hers once they were freed, causing him to look at her, “we need to be more prepared this time. We need to warn the Headmaster, find our chosen, and train them.”

Plagg closed his eyes and took a deep breath, squeezing her hands tight. He looked up at her after a moment, again with that serious expression. “How long do you think we have?”

“I’m not sure. A few years, probably. He needs time to get his strength back.”

He nodded. “We need all the time we can get.”

Plagg let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her. He leaned his cheek against the side of her head, eyes shut tight. Her eyes were closed as well, her arms wrapped around his chest and her head on his shoulder. 

They both stood there for a long time, taking comfort in each other’s presence. Eventually they had to let go, slowly bringing their heads up so they could look at the other again, but this time with determination. They clasped their hands together, squeezing them as hard as they could. Tikki gave him a firm nod, which he promptly returned. 

They would not fail again.

They would be ready.


	9. Eavesdropping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is walking around Hogwarts during Christmas Holiday by himself when he overhears an interesting conversation.

Adrien walked down the empty corridor with his hands in his pockets. The castle had become cold and drafty during the Christmas holiday, and with almost all of the students gone a lot of the life that Hogwarts usually held was gone. 

The Hufflepuff boy sighed, turning his head to look out the windows as he walked. The November winds had taken all of the leaves with it, stripping the tress down to their skeletal branches. Then the snow had come, blanketing the grounds until they were white. When the first snow came the students had gone outside after their classes, throwing snowballs and making angels on the ground and just having fun.

That had been one of the best moment’s in Adrien’s life, but now it just made him sad. He missed his friends. Both Nino and Marinette had offered for him to come to their houses for the holiday but Adrien had politely refused. He didn’t want to inconvenience their families on such short notice. Plus he had been alone during Christmas plenty of times, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Nino had not been happy when he had mentioned that part and almost dragged him to his house then and there. 

It would’ve been fun to experience life in the muggleworld, Adrien had to admit. Half the time he regretted his decision to stay at Hogwarts, but he knew that it was for the best. Besides, this way he was able to practice flying some more and could come closer to beating Marinette in their races. But it was too cold out that day, which was why he was out exploring the castle. He had found lots of secret passages, some that led outside but most that went to other places in the castle. He had been doing that for the past few hours though, and he was tired and needed a bath. Some of those tunnels had _not_ been sanitary. 

“…don’t see why it has to be _them,”_ he faintly heard a woman’s voice say, stopping him in his tracks. “They’re just children.”

“So were you, once.” 

Adrien recognized the voice at Professor Fu’s. _But who was he talking to?_ He crept closer to the door the voices were coming from, which Adrien knew lead to Fu’s office. A faint feeling of guilt washed over him for eavesdropping, but he quickly pushed it aside. He was bored and this sounded interesting, so why not? His bath could wait. 

“Yes, and look at what happened,” the woman continued. “We weren’t prepared-“

“Because your Kwami died before they could teach you everything,” Fu interrupted. “We are not in the middle of a war like last time. You will be able to train your chosen in a safe, controlled environment. They will be fine.”

Adrien heard the woman sigh in frustration. “I’m just worried, that’s all.”

“And you don’t think I am?” Fu asked. “You are not the first Kwami to have doubts about this. But think of it this way - the earlier you start training them, the better prepared they will be.”

“I know,” the woman said in defeat. “But I thought they would be older than eleven.”

“It’s not like they are gonna fight when they’re eleven,” a new, lower voice said. Adrien’s eyes widened a little in surprise. The man (he was assuming it was a man) had been so quiet that Adrien didn’t even know he was in there. “You said we still have a few years, right? They’ll probably be around fifteen by then.”

“That isn’t much better,” the woman argued. 

“But they’re your chosen,” Fu reminded her. “Your job now is to make sure they are prepared to fight when the time comes.”

There was a moment of silence before the woman said, “I understand.”

“Plagg?” Fu asked.

“Yeah, sure, got it,” the man said offhandedly. “Now, do you have any cheese? _Someone_ still hasn’t bought me any.”

Fu laughed. “No, I do not.”

Adrien heard footsteps move toward the door, and he knew that he had to hide. 

He looked around and spotted a tapestry across the hall. He ran toward it and slipped behind the fabric just before the door opened. He prayed that the tapestry wasn’t moving too much or else his position would be given away. Once he was sure that it wasn’t moving, he peaked his head around the edge, doing his best to keep himself in the shadows so he wouldn’t be seen. 

Adrien watched as Tikki and her cat walked out, turning to face Fu once they passed the threshold. The old man stopped in the doorway with a smile, his hand resting on the door. 

_Where was the other man?_ Adrien wondered. 

“Thank you again, Master,” Tikki said, giving a bow. To Adrien’s amazement, the cat seemed to bow as well. “We will start training right away.”

“Wait until the holiday is over,” Fu advised. “Let them have their fun.”

“Agreed,” Tikki said with a relieved smile. 

She turned and walked down the corridor, and Adrien watched as Fu closed his office door. His muscles started to relax, but then he heard a _meow_ down at his feet. 

Adrien’s heart stopped in his chest. His body barely moved as his eyes glanced down to see Tikki’s cat sitting in front of him, bright green eyes staring straight at him. 

The Hufflepuff boy stared back for a few breathless moments. If the cat kept staring at him then he would get caught for sure, then he would get into trouble and his father would pull him out of Hogwarts and never let him see his friends or leave the house again-

“Plagg!”

The cat lazily looked behind him toward the groundskeeper before turning back to observe Adrien with a flick of his tail. 

“Plagg, c’mon!” Tikki yelled down the hall impatiently. “We have work to do! And this time you have to help.”

The cat blinked before he stretched, his front paws reaching out in front of him. He gave the boy one last look of amusement, which Adrien didn’t think was possible for a cat, before trotting back to the woman. 

Adrien finally allowed himself to breathe after they turned the corner and were out of sight. He stepped out from behind the tapestry, checking down both sides of the corridor before fully revealing himself. He walked quickly down the hallway in the opposite direction Tikki had gone. 

Adrien didn’t slow down until he was almost to his common room, finally allowing himself to reflect on what he had just heard. 

So the groundskeeper Tikki apparently knows Professor Fu, and calls him master for some reason. Her and the other man that was in the room have to train their chosen and have a few years to do it. What does _chosen_ even mean? What will these chosen have to do? The other man had mentioned something about fighting, but what are they gonna fight? And where did that man even go? It was only Tikki and her cat-

Adrien’s eyes widened, his steeps faltering slightly. Plagg was the name of Tikki’s cat. Professor Fu had talked to someone named Plagg, and _he had responded._

“Tikki has a talking cat,” he concluded, as if that was the only answer. “That’s so cool!” 

Adrien continued to walk to his common room with a skip in his step. He couldn’t wait to tell his friends when they got back.


	10. Discussions and Doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tikki and Plagg talk to Marinette and Adrien about becoming Miraculous holders, but Marinette doesn't take it very well.

“Hey dude, what’s up!” Nino greeted enthusiastically as he gave Adrien a hug. 

Adrien laughed and hugged his friend tight. He was very happy to see him again, and had even gone to the train station in Hogsmeade to greet him and the rest of his friends. Sure, he had to stand in the cold while it was snowing, but it was definitely worth it. He had waited weeks for the rest of students to come back and he couldn’t wait any longer. 

“You look like you’re freezing, man,” Nino said as he pulled away from the hug. “How long have you been standing out here?”

Adrien shrugged. “Not that long,” he lied. He had been out there for at least an hour, if he had to guess. But Nino didn’t need to know that.

“Hey guys!” the two boys heard a voice say. They both turned around to see Alya walking up to them with a wave, Marinette following close behind. 

“Yo, what took you guys so long?” Nino teased.

“Marinette fell and a bunch of her stuff fell out of her bag,” Alya explained. “And I was a good friend who stayed behind and helped her pick everything back up.” She gave a pointed look to Nino.

“Heh, sorry,” he said, giving Marinette an apologetic look. “I guess I was too excited to see my man Adrien.”

“Aw, thanks,” Adrien said with a smile. It really made him happy to hear that his friend was just as excited to see each other as he was. 

“H-how was your Christmas, Adrien?” the boy heard Marinette ask. 

Adrien turned to really look at her, noticing her new matching pink hat and scarf, the second covering most of her red cheeks. 

“It was good, thank you,” he responded. “How was yours? Did you get your hat and scarf as a present?”

Marinette shook her head. “No, but a made them with the yarn that I got for Christmas, so that kind of counts.”

“You made those?” Adrien asked, impressed. They looked amazing, almost professionally done. 

“My girl’s got mad skills,” Alya said, giving her friend a side hug. 

Both Adrien and Nino nodded in agreement, complimenting her some more on her handiwork.

“But guys,” Adrien said in excitement, unable to hold it in any longer, “you’ll never guess what happened-“

“Marinette, Adrien, could you come with me please?”

The four friends looked over to see the groundskeeper Tikki standing near them. The woman had on multiple layers with a long red coat that somehow didn’t clash with her hair, her nose buried into the black scarf around her neck. They could just barely see her black cat snuggled around her neck, almost perfectly blending into her scarf except for his bright green eyes. 

The first-years in question looked back at their friends in confusion before turning to the woman. 

“Yeah, sure,” Marinette answered for the both of them. 

They waved goodbye to their friends, Alya making sure that Marinette’s bag was still closed, and made their way over to Tikki. Adrien could tell she was smiling despite her scarf covering her mouth by the crinkles around her eyes.

“C’mon then,” she said through the fabric, waving her hand for them to come with her. 

They all walked to the horseless carriages that were taking the students up to the castle and climbed into the next available one. 

Tikki let out a sigh of relief once the door closed, reaching up to remove her scarf as the carriage magically got warmer. Her cat jumped off of her shoulders onto the seat next to her, staring at the kids while sitting down. This made Adrien a little skittish, especially since he knew that the cat could talk. Surely the cat didn’t remember him from the other day, right? Or told Tikki what had happened? A wave of panic washed over him at the thought. 

“Thank you so much for riding with us,” Tikki said with a smile. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” She held out her hand. “I’m Tikki, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds. I took you guys across the lake on your first day.”

“It’s nice to see you again, Miss Tikki. I’m Adrien,” the boy said, looking away from the cat long enough to shake her hand.

Tikki turned to the girl with a smile once Adrien let go. 

“Marinette,” the girl said, reaching out to shake her hand as well. “Nice to meet you.”

“This is Plagg,” Tikki said, scratching the cat’s ears as she turned to introduce him. His eyes got all squinty as he enjoyed the sensation. 

“Aw, he’s so cute!” Marinette cooed. 

Tikki laughed. “Oh don’t tell him that, he’ll be preening over it for a week.”

Watching the cat relish in the attention, Adrien didn’t doubt it for a moment. 

“Excuse me, Miss Tikki?” Marinette asked. 

The woman turned to her with a hum and a smile.

“Why did you ask us to come with you?”

Tikki’s shoulders dropped, her expression turning serious. She looked out the window. “We’re about to stop.”

She put her scarf back on and gestured for Plagg to hop back on her shoulders. 

“The snow is too cold for him,” Tikki explained when she saw their curious looks, her smile back on her face but more strained than before. “I need to carry him on my shoulders. He’s a big baby.”

Plagg flicked his tail in her face, clearly annoyed.

“He’s also easily insulted.” 

They all exited the carriage, Tikki leading the students in the direction of her hut. 

“Have you two ever heard of the Miraculouses?” the woman asked after they had walked for a minute or so. 

Marinette and Adrien, who were walking side-by-side behind her, gave each other a confused look. 

“Excuse me?” Adrien asked.

“The Miraculouses. Ancient magical objects?” Tikki said, trying to jog their memory.

“I’ve never heard of them,” Marinette admitted.

Adrien shook his head in agreement. “Me neither.”

“Then let me start from the beginning,” Tikki said, looking back at them briefly with a smile. “The Miraculouses were created long ago, no one really knows how or when, or who created them. There are seven that we know of, and each of them enhance different kinds of spells and abilities for the wearer. However, there are two that are more powerful than the others. One of them represents bad luck, which gives a power boost whenever the wearer casts a destructive spell. The other represents good luck, and gives power to creation and transfiguration spells.”

By this time they had gotten to Tikki’s hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She opened the door for them, and they all rushed in out of the snow and into the room warmed by a fire. 

“Why don’t you guys take off your coats and sit by the fire,” Tikki suggested, taking off her own coat. “I’ll grab us some cookies.” 

Plagg jumped off her shoulders and immediately went to sit on his window ledge, observing all of them with his piercing green eyes. Adrien tried not to be too unnerved by it.  

Marinette and Adrien did as they were told, going to sit at the table next to the hearth after hanging up their coats along with their hats and scarves. 

“Do you have any idea what’s happening?” Adrien whispered to the girl as they sat down.

Marinette shook her head, looking equally as lost as he was. Adrien was glad that he wasn’t the only one who had no clue what was going on.  

“Here you go,” Tikki said as she set the plate of cookies down on the table in front of them. “Feel free to help yourself.”

Adrien, despite his reservations about the situation, immediately reached out and grabbed a cookie. He absolutely loved sweets and would never miss an opportunity to have some.

Marinette was slower in grabbing one, apprehension written all over her face. 

“First things first,” Tikki said, grabbing a cookie for herself. “I think you should properly meet Plagg.”

She turned and gestured for the cat to come over to them, but he just turned around to face the window with a flick of his tail in dismissal. 

Tikki sighed, turning back to the first years. “He’s just being obstinate as always.”

Plagg meowed in protest, glaring at her over his shoulder. 

“Oh, you don’t want to be called obstinate?” Tikki said as she turned back to the cat. “Then get over here and prove them wrong.”

The next moment made everything click for Adrien, and he almost face-palmed himself for being so stupid. 

The three at the table watched as the cat leaped off of the window ledge, turning into a lilth man with black hair and the same green eyes before his boots touched the ground. Adrien couldn’t help but gape at the scene, turning to Marinette to confirm that she also saw what just happened. She looked just as surprised as he was. 

“I don’t know why you insist on insulting me, Tikki,” the older man said in a very human-like voice with his very human-like mouth, folding his arms over his chest. “You could just ask.”

“You didn’t respond when I asked the first time,” Tikki shot back with a toll of her eyes, “so I had to resort to drastic measures.”

“Psh, whatever,” Plagg waved off. “Do we have any cheese?”

Adrien watched with curiosity as Tikki sighed in resignation, turning back to her cookie. “Yes, I got you some this morning.”

Plagg’s face lit up. “Really?” he asked in disbelief. He practically ran over and gave the woman a kiss on the top of her head, Tikki smiling slightly in response. “You’re the best.” Then he rushed to the kitchen, finding the cheese immediately and shoving some in his mouth. 

“Hold on,” Marinette said, hitting both of her hands on the table, causing everyone to look at her. “What in the world is going on?”

“I’m an animagus, duh,” Plagg said through a mouthful of cheese.

“I got that part,” Marinette said with an annoyed look. “But why exactly are Adrien and I here?”

Adrien looked away from Marinette and nodded, showing his support of her questioning.

“She’s just like you, always getting to the point,” Plagg said to Tikki, coming around to the table to sit next to her. “No wonder she’s your chosen.”

“Chosen?” Marinette asked, sharing a look with Adrien. “What does that mean?”

“It means that you two are the ones chosen to receive our Miraculouses,” Plagg said without a care, still focused on the cheese that he had brought with him from the kitchen.

“Wait a minute,” Adrien jumped in. “One thing at a time. You two have Miraculouses? The powerful, magical objects you were just telling us about?” 

Tikki brushed her hair behind her ear, the firelight glinting off of her earrings. They were round, gray, and didn’t look very special to Adrien. 

“This is the good luck Miraculous,” Tikki said, gesturing to her jewelry. She took Plagg’s hand and lifted it to show his silver ring, causing him to protest since that was his cheese-eating hand. “And this is the bad luck.”

Plagg took his hand back with a glare, turning back to his cheese. 

“They are two halves of a whole, and therefore are stronger together,” Tikki continued, ignoring Plagg’s antics. “When the time is right, the Miraculouses choose a new owner, and this time around that would be you two.”

There was a moment of silence as Adrien and Marinette stared at them, not really sure what to think.

“Excuse me?” Adrien asked in shock. “I’m very confused. So we will get your Miraculouses?”

“Why us?” Marinette said suspiciously. “Why now?”

Tikki and Plagg looked at each other, and after a moment Plagg gave a slight nod. Tikki turned back to the kids with a sigh. 

“Do you know who Hawkmoth is?”

Adrien blanched slightly at the seemingly drastic change in topic. “You mean that evil dude who tried to take over the UK 50 years ago?”

Plagg snapped his fingers then pointed to Adrien. “Bingo.”

“What does that have to do with this?” Marinette asked impatiently.

“Well,” Tikki said, fiddling with the new cookie in her hand. “Hawkmoth had a Miraculous. He tricked the previous owner, Nooroo, into giving it to him. That particular Miraculous gives more power to Legilimency, the ability to read someone’s mind. Once he learned how to use the Miraculous he killed Nooroo, becoming the sole owner of that power.”

“Sole owner?” Adrien asked.

“You cannot forcibly take someone’s Miraculous,” Plagg said, setting aside his empty cheese container. “You need to learn how to use it. During the training process, the previous owner, then called a Kwami, and the new one, called the chosen, share ownership. This is to prevent any overload of power for the chosen, because taking all that power at once is not good. It could kill you.”

“Going back to Hawkmoth,” Tikki interrupted, noticing the panicked look on the children’s faces. “He used the Miraculous to control people’s minds, and he could do it over great distances through charmed objects. You’re right Adrien,” she said, nodding at the shocked boy, “he did try to take over the UK, 52 years ago to be exact.” 

She paused, reaching over to grab Plagg’s hand. The man turned his hand over and threaded his fingers through hers, giving her a small smile. She smiled in return, but it was more sad than happy.

“And we stopped him,” she finished, looking back at the first years.

“Wait a minute,” Marinette said. “You expect us to believe that _you two_ defeated Hawkmoth 52 years ago?” 

“Well yeah,” Plagg shrugged.

“But you guys look, like, 30!” Adrien exclaimed in disbelief.

“Thank you,” Tikki said with a small laugh. “But the Miraculouses slow down aging. You know Professor Fu?”

Marinette and Adrien nodded.

“He’s 182,” Plagg said.

Marinette stared in shock. “But that means-“

“-that Professor Fu has a Miraculous!” Adrien finished in realization. “That’s why you guys were-“ he abruptly stopped and shut his mouth, looking down in embarrassment.

“Why we were talking to him?” Plagg finished amusedly. 

Adrien slowly nodded, not looking up. 

“Ya know kid,” Plagg said, “next time you wanna eavesdrop, pick a better hiding place.”

“What does he mean?” Marinette asked in confusion.

“I kinda overheard them talking to Professor Fu a couple days ago,” Adrien said sheepishly. “That’s actually what I wanted to tell you guys earlier, before Miss Tikki came to get us.” He stopped explaining there because he didn’t want to mention how he thought Plagg was a talking cat. That would just cause him even more embarrassment. 

“I think we got off track,” Tikki said, pausing the current conversation. She looked at the first-years seriously. “We brought you here because Hawkmoth is returning, and we need to train you two to fight him so that he can be stopped once and for all.”

“I… I thought you said you guys defeated him,” Marinette said weakly.

“We did,” Tikki said with a sigh, reaching up to rub her eyes in exhaustion with the hand that wasn’t holding Plagg’s. “But somehow he survived, and is gaining his strength back.”

“Why can’t you guys just keep the Miraculouses and fight Hawkmoth again?” Adrien asked. “You did it before so you can do it again. Why do you need to give them to us?”

“We’ve done our fighting,” Plagg said shortly. Tikki squeezed his hand that was still in hers, and the man turned to look at her with a thankful look. 

“Now it’s your turn,” Tikki turned toward the first-years with a smile. “Once you accept the power, you will become a Miraculous Holder. Plagg and I then become your Kwami, or teachers. We will guide you though how to use your new power carefully, as it takes a lot of practice and getting used to. It can be very hard to control, especially for these particular Miraculouses, because they are the most powerful. You will need to be very careful at all times, do you understand?”

“Yes,” Adrien said excitedly. 

Marinette had been looking down for the past few minutes, her hands clasped tightly on her lap. She didn’t respond.

“Marinette?” Tikki asked the girl in concern.

She looked up at the sound of her name, but Adrien could tell that her eyes were unfocused and slightly glazed over. 

“Mari?” he said, placing his hand on her arm. 

The girl jolted at the touch, immediately turning to look at him with wide eyes, her breathing short and rapid. 

Adrien started to lean toward her worriedly. “Hey, are you-“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Marinette got up, almost knocking the chair to the ground, and ran toward the door, throwing it open and heading out into the snow, not even grabbing her coat on her way out. The three who were left stared after her with varying degrees of concern. 

Adrien turned back to the adults. “I don’t know what happened, maybe she’s freaked out about this whole thing? I mean I think it’s awesome but she looked a little scared, what do-“

“Kid,” Plagg interrupted. 

Adrien shut his mouth with a _click_ of his teeth. 

“Do everyone a favor and go after her,” the man said. 

Adrien nodded determinedly as he stood up, putting on his winter gear and grabbing Marinette’s before running out the door. 

Tikki sighed, pulling her hand from her husband’s to rub her face. 

“That went well,” she said sarcastically. 

“They just need some time to adjust,” Plagg said, rubbing a hand on her back. “They are only eleven.”

“I just hope that Hawkmoth will wait a long time before showing up again,” Tikki said. “Those kids need all the time they can get.”

~~~

Adrien did his best to follow Marinette’s footprints in the snow, but it was getting hard to see with the snowfall picking up. He bundled his coat up tighter against the wind, shivering slightly. If he was cold with a coat, he couldn’t imagine how Marinette was feeling. He readjusted  her coat in his hands, making sure her hat and scarf wouldn’t slip and fall into the snow. It wouldn’t do Marinette any good if the things that were supposed to keep her warm were cold and soggy. 

Eventually he came up to one of the archways that led into an outdoor plaza. He stopped for a moment, trying to catch his breath. Trying to run through snow was exhausting. 

He looked around and, as luck would have it, saw Marinette leaning against the wall near one of the window-like openings, hugging herself as she tried to stay out of the wind.

“Marinette!” he shouted, rushing over to her. 

The Slytherin girl looked up in shock at the sound of her name, watching with wide eyes as Adrien came to a stop in front of her. 

“Adrien?” she asked in confusion.

“Hi,” was all he could think of to say at that moment. He cleared his throat. “I was coming to see if you were okay, you know, after rushing out like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Marinette breathed, looking like she was about to cry. “It just suddenly hit me what they were asking of us, and I- I’m not cut out for that!”

Adrien stared at her, watching the falling snowflakes decorate her dark hair before shaking his head. He closed the distance between them and wrapped Marinette up in her coat, hat, and scarf before pulling her into a hug. He made sure that her hands were in between them so they could be warm as well, since they looked almost blue and she didn’t have any gloves. He rubbed up and down her arms to try to warm her up. 

“How can you be so calm about this?” she asked after a few moments of silence. 

“To be honest,” he said into her hat, “I’ve always wanted to be a superhero, and this is the closest thing I’m ever gonna get. So I’m very excited.”

“See, that’s why you will be perfect for this job,” Marinette pointed out, pulling back from the hug and crossing her arms over her chest. Adrien could see the strain around her eyes as she tried to stop any more tears from leaking. “I don’t want anything to do with it. You heard how powerful those things are! I’m bound to mess up at some point.”

“Marinette,” he said with care, putting his hands on her shoulders. “ _You_ are amazing. You were one of my first friends, and I’m so glad that I could continue to be your friend for these past few months. I have seen you stand up for students and what you believe in, seen you get so engrossed in your studies that we have to yell to get your attention. You are so smart and you feel so strongly about the things you care about.”

Adrien paused when he saw Marinette shift her weight and blush slightly, her face toward the ground. He knelt down slightly so he could catch her eyes again. 

“You were chosen, Marinette. And I know that they made a good choice, because I don’t know anyone else who would be a better fit for a hero.”

“What about Alya?” Marinette sniffed. “She’s always talking about superheroes and how great they are. She could be one.”

“Talking about them and being one aren’t the same thing,” Adrien pointed out. “I don’t doubt that she would be a good one, but the Miraculous chose _you._ And you know what they say, the best people to have power are the ones who don’t want it.”

“But you want your power,” Marinette said, wincing right afterward. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“No, it’s okay,” Adrien laughed. “You’re right, I do want it. But I’ll have you to keep me in check, so it all works out.”

They both laughed, and Adrien was relieved to see Marinette relax slightly. He pulled her into another hug, just because he could.

Marinette slowly wrapped her arms around him as well, and Adrien smiled when she did.

“I’m really glad that it’s us who were chosen,” he said softly. 

“Really?” Marinette said in a high voice into his shoulder. She coughed a little, her voice going back to normal. “Why do you say that?”

Adrien pulled back from the hug and looked down, scuffing his shoe onto the snow-covered ground. He wasn’t actually sure why he had said that out loud, and didn’t really mean for her to hear it. 

“Well,” he started to say, rubbing the back of his neck, “you’re awesome, and now we get to hang out even more!” He chuckled weakly. What he said was true, but didn’t get to the heart of the matter. 

“True!” Marinette agreed excitedly, bouncing a little on her toes. Adrien thought that it was absolutely adorable. “We can hang out, learn more about each other, visit each other over holidays-“

“Really?” Adrien interrupted hopefully. Once he realized what he had done, he looked down again and flushed ashamedly. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve never really gone over to a friend’s house before, unless you count going with my dad to Chloe’s house because he had some business with the Minister.”

“No, I do not. And I invited you over for Christmas, you could’ve come with me!” Marinette reminded him. 

“Yeah I know,” Adrien said. “I just didn’t want to be a burden.”

“Adrien,” she said with care, making sure to look him in the eye so he knew how serious she was. “You are never a burden. If I invite you over for Christmas, that means that I _want_ you there, and you can’t be a burden if you’re wanted. I don’t think I will ever _not_ what you around, to be honest,” she finished weakly. 

Adrien looked at her in awe. He had never really been told that he was wanted anywhere by anyone, yet here Marinette was not only telling him that she wanted to hang out with him, but that she _always_ wanted to. 

He was glad that it was Marinette and him who were chosen. He knew that Marinette was a good friend, and it confronted him to know that she would always be there. Tikki had said that they were stronger together, that the Miraculouses completed each other. If that really was true, then he and Marinette would always be together no matter what, and that made Adrien happier than he could say. This girl really was incredible.

He smiled at her. “Thank you,” he said, trying to pour all of the emotions he was feeling into those two words. 

Marinette smiled in return. “Wanna go back, where it’s warm?” she suggested. “I would say the castle, but I left my bag at the hut, plus I don’t think they’re done talking to us yet.”

“Oh, yes! You must be freezing,” he said, putting an arm around her as they started to walk back to Tikki and Plagg’s home. 

They walked in silence for a few moments, him never moving his arm from her shoulders despite how hard it was to keep it there while trekking through snow. 

“Hey Adrien?”

The Hufflepuff boy looked over at her. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for coming to get me.”

He smiled softly, gripping her shoulders tighter for a moment. He was once again washed over with the feeling of gratefulness that it was Marinette that he would be working with. He knew that they would be able to do anything as long as it was together. 

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i should have a sequel out in the next couple of days, where Marinette and Adrien are now 4th years and Hawkmoth makes himself known. Hopefully these kids will be ready to fight for the safety of everyone in Wizarding Britain, while trying to deal with school and their own personal issues ;)


End file.
